


Phantom Messiah: Royal Edition

by LazuriteLuxCaelum



Category: Persona 3, Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Adventure and Romance, Friendship, Goro Akechi lives, Goro and Ken are half-brothers, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 71,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazuriteLuxCaelum/pseuds/LazuriteLuxCaelum
Summary: Elizabeth has finally found a way to liberate Minato from his duty as the Great Seal only to tell him that he must helped the latest 2 Wild Cards users and their teammates from heartless, corrupted adults and a new and cunning threat. Will he succeed or failed to do so? A P3 and P5 crossover.
Relationships: Akira Kurusu/Sumire Yoshizawa, Minako Arisato/Shinjiro Aragaki, Minato Arisato/Goro Akechi
Comments: 263
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Somewhere in the realm of the end of the world…**

" _Don't worry, dear Minato. For I've finally found a way to freed and replaced you from your duty as the "Great Seal" in sealing away Nyx, the Greek Goddess of Night and preventing her from meeting and bringing forth "The Fall" with her husband, Erebus, the Greek God of Darkness and gave you the second chance to truly live your life in the world of the living._ " thought Elizabeth as she glance up at the large and floating golden double doors that had the stone statue of her cherish guest in a crucified position in the center of the door before she closed her eyes in deep concentration and raised her hand out in front of her.

A bright sphere of golden and silver light (which is the power of all of his bonds with his friends and acquaintances in Tatsumi Port Island plus a chunk of Elizabeth's power) started to appear and gather in Elizabeth's hand before it shot straight forward and struck the stone statue, causing it to crack then break apart and freed the slumbering soul of Minato confined within before his soul fell and Elizabeth quickly rushed forward and grabbed hold of his soul while the sphere that struck the stone statue started to mend the statue up until it's intact and without opening the door and woke Nyx up. After Elizabeth succeeded in freeing Minato's soul from his duty, she holds Minato's soul securely in her hands before she quickly disappeared, went back to the Velvet Room (which is an exact replica of Minato's old dorm room) to return and restore Minato's soul back into his body before she click her fingers to conjured up a chair, sat down and decided to wake Minato up from his long slumber.

"Please wake up, Minato-san." said Elizabeth calmly to Minato, which make him started stirring, take some deep shaky breaths, slowly opened his silver-coloured eyes and look around the room he's in before he glance at Elizabeth. "Hello and nice to see you alive, dear Minato." said Elizabeth as she smiled softly at Minato.

"Yeah, nice to see you again, Elizabeth- hold on a second. How long has it been and why am I here in the Velvet Room… No, if I'm here then that means the Seal is-!" said Minato in a worry then strained tone of voice to Elizabeth about the Great Seal.

"You don't have to worry about that, Minato-san. It's been a few years since you passed away and the Seal remained as intact as ever because I've managed to find a way to use all of the strong bonds that you have formed and establish with your friends plus a chunk of my power to freed and replaced you as the Seal." said Elizabeth calmly to Minato (who sighed in relief after he heard what Elizabeth just told him).

"I see." said Minato as he slowly nodded his head at what Elizabeth just told him while he misses the bonds that he had with the members of SEES and others in Gekkoukan High. "So now that you've freed me from being the Seal, what're my choices?" asked Minato.

"Well, now that I've freed you from your "Great Seal" duty and even though both Nyx and Erebus are no longer threats to the world, a new and cunning threat has showed up and has somehow invaded and overtaken the Velvet Room that you used to come and asked either Master Igor or me to do Persona Fusion and others for you so that you'll gained newer, powerful Personas and weapons, sealed Master Igor away somewhere that I can't find or enter and has even taken, brainwash and split my younger sister Lavenza up into 2 different strangers named Caroline and Justine so that this new threat can used them for his rigged game for the 2 new Wild Cards users, Minato-san." replied Elizabeth sadly to Minato.

"Say what? How can that be and who's this new threat that's capable of doing such cruel things to you, your sister and Igor and also that's why you freed me from being the Seal? To help whoever the 2 new Wild Cards users are against the new threat?" said Minato in shock and disbelief at what Elizabeth just told him.

"That's right, Minato-san. So I asked, will you accept the task of helping the 2 new Wild Cards users overcome the rigged game planned and set up by the new threat, freed Lavenza and Master Igor from the control and confinement of the new threat?" said Elizabeth as she nodded at Minato.

"I see… In that case, I guess I'll accept the task and is that all or is there anything else that I should know about before I take my leave, Elizabeth?" asked Minato.

"Yes, there are some things that you need to know about, Minato-san. Before you leave this room and embark on your new journey to helped out the 2 new Wild Cards users, try to formed and establish new bonds with them and others to take the place of the ones I used to take your place as the Seal while living the life that you never have and also, most of the Personas that you've are no longer with you except for Orpheus, Thanatos and Messiah. You can summon and used Orpheus easily but please refrain from summoning and using Thanatos and Messiah because they're too strong for you to used until your level is high enough to used them." replied Elizabeth in a warning tone of voice to Minato.

"I see. Very well then and will I see you again, Elizabeth?" said Minato as he slowly nodded to Elizabeth.

"Unfortunately not. You've already fulfilled the contract of my master years ago so there's no need for us to meet again. This will be the only time we'll meet and talk but know that I'll be watching over you from afar and wish you the best of luck with your new task, Minato-san. Farewell." said Elizabeth as she smiled sadly and gently at Minato.

"I see, that's too bad. Alright then, I think I'm ready and farewell to you too, Elizabeth." said Minato as he bade farewell to Elizabeth before he closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

XXXX

The sudden jostle of the train speeding down the railway toward Shibuya inside the city of Tokyo startled and jerked Minato Arisato (who's wearing a long sleeve grey jacket with a long black trousers and grey sneakers on his legs and with a silver-coloured earphone around his neck that connects to an MP3 player tucked in his trousers left pocket) up from his slumber before he slowly take a look at the interior of the train around him, saw that it's filled with various students and adults standing or sitting in the train with him then he noticed a tiny, glowing blue butterfly flew past him and flew toward a short wavy black-haired, spectacled grey-eyed guy wearing a school uniform with a bag on his lap sitting opposite him, landed on the top of the guy's head before it disappear into thin air.

" _Huh, how surprisingly easy. To think that I'd meet one of them here already and here I thought that I'd have to start searching high and low in Shibuya for the 2 new Wild Cards users. Now only left the other one._ " thought Minato dryly in his mind before he closed his eyes, let out a small sigh and leaned back in his seat before he heard the strange conversation between 2 female students standing to his left near the train door.

"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?" asked the first girl in disbelief to the second girl.

"It's the truth." replied the second girl with a nod of her head.

"But to a person though? That's gotta be a joke. You really love all that occult stuff, don't you?" said the first girl to the second girl before they began chuckling to each other about the mental shutdown thing.

" _Hm, a mental shutdown, huh? Sounds similar to the "Apathy Syndrome" case caused by Shadows which my friends and I try our best fight and defeat a few years ago. Come to think of it, I wonder how are all of them now, especially my twin sister, Minako. When I've free time, I'll be sure to give them a call. Hope that they haven't change their numbers and won't be too surprise to know that I'm free from being the Seal and came back to live thanks to Elizabeth._ " thought Minato slightly sadly to himself before he noticed a black duffel bag plus a white manila folder lying on top of the bag next to him and he take and opened the manila folder and saw that it contains his name, picture, paper files about him transferring from his previous school to another until he reached the final file saying that he'll be living with a prosecutor named Sae Niijima and her younger sister Makoto in an apartment building and entering Shujin Academy for his third and final year of high school.

" _Most of the files in here about me are correct and I'll be living with a prosecutor named Sae Niijima and her younger sister, Makoto, huh? Lucky me, thanks a lot, Elizabeth._ " thought Minato as he let out a small, sarcastic sigh at Elizabeth, closed and put the folder about him back into the duffel bag next to him before the train eventually reached and came to a stop inside the Shibuya station and the train doors opened for him, the wavy black-haired student guy sitting opposite him and the other passengers. Minato then grabbed the duffel bag, stood up and walked out of the train with the guy and the other passengers, walked up the stairs out of the station and into the station square where he and the guy saw the large group of people walking or hanging out together in different corners of the station square around them both with cool and indifferent looks on their faces.

As both Minato and the guy make their way down the street away from the square, Minato noticed with a curious look on his face that the guy had stopped and is trying to repeatedly tapped at something on his phone to get rid of it with a frown look on his face and he turned and approach the guy.

"Is there something wrong with your phone?" Minato asked the guy, which make him stopped tapping his phone and glance suspiciously at him.

"What's it to you, stranger?" said the guy quite rudely to Minato (who raised an eyebrow at his rudeness).

"Excuse me, all I did was ask if there's something wrong with your phone. There's no need for you to be rude about it." said Minato coldly to the guy.

"…Fine, you're right and I'm sorry for being rude to you. It's just that after what I've gone through…" said the guy apologetically to Minato before he trailed off into silence, not wanting to tell Minato about it.

"I'm guessing that what he'd gone through must be bad enough that he doesn't wish to tell me about it until he wants to talk about it." thought Minato correctly in his mind before the guy showed him the mysterious yet creepy looking red and black icon that looks like an eye with star inside which expanded and covered almost the bottom half of his phone screen. "Woah. What kind of creepy-looking app is that? I've never seen it before." asked Minato as he glance at the app with a confused look on his face as well.

"I don't know. It just suddenly appears on my phone for no reason and now I can't seem to get rid of it somehow." replied the guy concernly to Minato.

"Is that so? Sounds even more creepy now." said Minato.

The next second, the people and the vehicles around both Minato and the guy started to slow down then came to a silent stop as time stand still, which make the guy gasped and glance at the sudden abnormality of the situation around him with surprise, confusion and unease on his face while Minato glance calmly around him.

The guy then noticed bright blue flames mysteriously appear in the middle of the road before the flames turned into the figure of a man with wings behind him then bright orange flames appear and burned within the blue flames and formed into what appear to be slitted-eyes and a wide, wicked smile before it disappear to reveal another face that make the guy gasped again and widened his eyes in shock and fear. He saw his own face with his eyes bright yellow in colour instead of gray and smiling a wide, wicked smile on his face while Minato winced and hold the left side of his head with his hand when he felt the familiar stirring of one of his strong personas briefly awaken from within him.

The next second, time resumed and the people and vehicles around Minato and the guy continue to walked and drive on down the street and road as if nothing had happened while the dark blue flames bearing the form of the winged man, the bright orange flames and his different-looking face that the guy just saw burning in the middle of the road vanished without a trace while the strong persona inside Minato went back to sleep.

" _Whatever it is I just saw must have been my imagination._ " thought the guy with a shrug of his shoulders before he glance down at his phone, saw that the icon had reverted back to it's miniature size before he tapped the icon with his finger to move it down to the trashcan icon at the bottom of his phone and watched as it shrunk and fall into the trashcan icon and out of his sight before he put his phone back in his pocket and turned to glance at Minato. "So, where are you going now, stranger?" asked the guy.

"Oh, just going to an apartment building to stay with a prosecutor and her younger sister. And what about you?" Minato answer the guy's question before he asked him another question.

"Me? I'll be living with some guy named Sojiro Sakura." replied the guy.

"I see. Well, see you then." said Minato.

"Yeah sure. See you." said the guy before they turned and walked away in different direction toward the places that they'll be staying in for the year.


	2. Chapter 2

After Minato bade farewell and parted ways with the frizzy black-haired guy, his stomach choose that moment to start cramping and grumbling quite loudly. " _Ugh, I'm so starving and thirsty, which is understandable since I didn't eat or drink anything while being the Great Seal for the past few years. Let's see if there's any fast-food stores or diners in Shibuya for me to eat and drink before I met my guardian._ " thought Minato as he swiftly make his way past the civilians walking around him toward the Central Street of Shibuya, arrived and look around and he saw some food stores (which is Ore No Beko and Big Bang Burger), a diner (which is closed for renovation) and a shop selling crepes in the Central Street before he decide to head into Big Bang Burger and stand in front of the counter with a female employee standing on the other side of the counter.

"Hello, welcome to Big Bang Burger, open 24 hours a day because there's no day or night in space! What can I get for you?" asked the female employee happily and politely to Minato, who glance down at the menu paper showing different types of burgers with salads or fries and drinks and their prices on the counter and made up his mind on what to order.

"I think I'll have and take 2 Big Bang Burger Challenges with a bowl of Venus Salad and huge glass of Coke, please." said Minato to the female employee.

"H-Huh? Are you sure?" said the female employee in surprise at Minato's order.

"Yes. Is something wrong?" asked Minato in slight confusion at the female employee.

"N-No, nothing's wrong. At this time, you can take the 2 Big Bang Challenges for 1000 yen, Venus Salad for 300 yen and your drink also for 300 yen, the total is 1600 yen." replied the female employee as she shake her head at Minato before she count and tell him the price of his food order.

"I see. Here you go, 1600 yen." said Minato as he take out his wallet and pay for his order.

"Thank you. Why don't you take a seat in one of those booths over there while waiting for your order?" said the female employee as she take the money from Minato, who nodded to her before he turned, walk toward and sat down on one of the booths (which is next to another booth where a tan-skinned, short unkempt dark brown-haired, bespectacled brown-eyed middle-aged man wearing a dark blue dress shirt with a white ribbed sweater over it and a long sleeve light brown jacket with dark brown fabric at the cuffs and collar over his sweater and shirt, long dark blue jeans and tan shoes with laces on them sat in it) to wait for his order and after a few minutes, another different female employee carrying a huge tray that had all of his foods and drink on it walk toward his table and put the huge tray of foods and drink down on the table in front of him (which make the middle-aged man widened his eyes.

"Here's your order and time for you to get started on the 30 minutes time limit Big Bang Burger duo Challenges! Ready? Begin!" said the second female employee to Minato before she turned and walk away and soon after she left, Minato swiftly picked up and began eating his 2 huge burgers and bowl of salad and managed to finish his meal and drink before the time limit is up.

"Ah, now that's delicious and hit the spot." sighed Minato with a satisfied look on his face after he's done eating his meal and drinking his glass of Coke.

"Woah. That's quite the huge appetite you have, young man. You must be either very hungry or you need to eat a lot since you're a growing boy." said the middle-aged man with an impressed look on his face at Minato.

"Hm, I guess so. And who are you, mister?" asked Minato as he glance at the middle-aged man.

"Oh, pardon me! I'm Takuto Maruki, a counselor. Nice to meet you…" said the middle-aged man as he introduced himself and hold out his hand toward Minato for a handshake.

"Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you too, Maruki-san." said Minato, introducing himself to the middle-aged man named Takuto Maruki before he shake Maruki's hand and the next second, Minato saw a black shadow appear above and behind Maruki for a few seconds before it disappear. " _Hm? What was that I saw and this feeling, it feels like a persona…_ " thought Minato suspiciously in his mind about the black shadow that he just saw appear above and behind Maruki.

"Is something wrong, Arisato-kun? You suddenly spaced out." asked Maruki concernly to Minato.

"Huh? No, nothing's wrong. Well then, I should be leaving to meet my guardian now, goodbye, Maruki-san." replied Minato as he shake his head at Maruki before he bade farewell to him.

"… If you say so and goodbye, Arisato-kun." said Maruki as he also bade farewell to Minato before he watched Minato leave Big Bang Burger store.

After Minato left Big Bang Burger store, he started looking around Central Street for anyone who fit the description of a prosecutor working for the government and his guardian for the year among the people walking and talking around him until he heard the voice of a woman calling his name from behind.

"Arisato-kun? Are you Minato Arisato-kun?" said the woman's voice from behind Minato, who turned around and saw a tall and fair-skinned, red-eyed woman with long grey hair parted down on the left side of her face, wearing a long sleeve black turtleneck shirt with a long sleeve black blazer suit over it, long black pants, black socks and heels on her legs and holding a black bag on her left shoulder.

" _Hm, so this is the prosecutor woman named Sae Niijima that will be taking care of me for the year, huh? In a way, she reminds me of Mitsuru-senpai but with a much colder feeling in her._ " thought Minato curiously then concernly in his mind about the woman named Sae Niijima. "Yes, that's right. It's nice to meet you." greeted Minato as he bowed politely to Sae.

"Hm, you're certainly polite enough, Arisato-kun. My name's Sae Niijima, your guardian for the year. Well then, shall we be off, Arisato-kun? My car is parked nearby and you must be exhausted from the train ride and from your recent awakening from your coma." said Sae after she introduced herself to Minato before she turned, walked toward her car with Minato following silently after her and they get into the car and Sae started her car and drove away from Shibuya.

After almost an hour of silent driving down the tightly packed streets of one of Tokyo's major city, both Sae and Minato eventually arrived inside the basement under one of the expensive-looking apartment complex before Sae turned off her car before both she and Minato got out of the car and they walked toward and into a room where the elevators are before Sae pressed a button and both she and Minato got into the elevator, went up to the designated floor, got off and they walked forward down a hallway and stopped in front of a door before Sae take out her keys to opened the door and they went in.

Once both Sae and Minato stepped into the apartment and Sae closed the door behind them, Minato take a thorough look at the place around him and saw that it's quite large and expensive with the kitchen/dining room to the right, the living room to the left and a hallway in front of them leading down toward 2 doors on the right and 2 doors on the left.

"Well, this will be your home until next year, Arisato-kun. Now come along so that I can show you which one is your room." said Sae coolly to Minato as she take off her shoes and walked down the hallway toward the 4 doors.

"I see. And thanks, Niijima-san." said Minato as he nodded to Sae before he take off his shoes and followed after Sae before they stopped in front of one of the door on the left and Minato watched as Sae opened it and they went in. Once both Minato and Sae stepped into the room, Minato saw that the room is quite similar to the room that he used to stay back in the dormitory building in Tatsumi Port Island years ago but with several sealed brown boxes in the middle of the room that he knew consists of his belongings.

"This will be your room plus your stuffs arrived yesterday so you're free to unpack them. The room next to yours is the bathroom while the 2 doors opposite yours and the bathroom is mine and Makoto's room." Sae said and explained to Minato before she turned her head to give him a stern glare. "And let me add a warning to you, Arisato-kun. If either I or my sister caught you inside our rooms without our permissions then we won't hesitate to kicked you out, is that clear to you?" said Sae sternly to Minato.

"Yes, very clear, Niijima-san. I'll bear that in mind." said Minato as he nodded in acknowledgement to Sae's warning.

"Good. Anyway, now that you're here, why don't you unpack your stuffs then go to bed early. Because tomorrow I'll be taking you to Shujin Academy to introduced and enrolled you, the school that you'll be attending tomorrow." Sae said and explain further to Minato (who nodded again to her, which satisfied her) before she took a key out of her right pocket, held it out to him and he took it from her and put it into his right pocket. "That's one of the apartment keys that you have there so don't ever lose it, alright, Arisato-kun?" added Sae firmly to Minato.

"Yeah, I know, Niijima-san." said Minato as he nodded again to Sae, who glance at him for another moment before she turned and left the room. After Sae left the room, Minato wasted no time in unpacking, taking out and putting his stuffs into a cupboard and on the table until he's done before he lie down on his back on the single-sized bed and glance up at the ceiling.

" _I wonder what kind of help that I'll be doing for the latest 2 Wild Cards users and others plus forging new bonds with them that I haven't met yet this coming year… Whatever it is and whoever they are, I'll try to help them if that's what you want me to do, Elizabeth. But for now, I guess I should start sleeping so that I can wake up early tomorrow to head to Shujin Academy with Niijima-san._ " thought Minato tiredly in his mind before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

XXXX

**A few minutes later…**

Right after Sae picked up, brought Minato back to the apartment where she and her younger sister live in from Shibuya and show him to his room before she left him and head to the living room. Just as she was about to sit down and take a look and review about the latest psychotic breakdown case in the file folder on the table, her phone started ringing and she take it out of her pants pocket, saw that it's from her SIU Director and she answer and talked to him for a while before she bade farewell to the Director and turned off her phone just as her sister came home.

"I'm back, sis!" said Makoto as she closed the door and came into the living room.

"Welcome back, Makoto. Although you were quite late in coming back today. I take it that you're busy with your student council duty at school?" asked Sae with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, you're right, sis." replied Makoto as she put her schoolbag down on one of the couches before she turned and head to the kitchen to begin cooking some simple omelette rice for her and her older sister. "So, sis, I noticed that there's an extra pair of shoes for a guy in the cabinet near the front door. Did that guy who's going to be staying with us for the year came today?" asked Makoto curiously to Sae.

"Yeah, he did. His name's Minato Arisato and I'll be taking and enrolling him to Shujin tomorrow before he'll start his third-year of school on Monday. And I've already gave him some fair warning as he stays here, though." replied Sae.

"I see. So what was Arisato-kun like and will you be alright in keeping an eye on him?" asked Makoto concernly to Sae (which surprises her a little). "I mean, you're already very busy with the recent cases of psychotic breakdowns and mental shutdowns of people and taking care of me at the same time…"

"It's fine and I'll be alright and as for what Arisato-kun was like, he's seems quite the mature and quiet guy for his age and as long as he abide by my warning and caused no trouble then everything should be fine." replied Sae as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I see." said Makoto as she fell silent and kept on cooking the omelette rice until it's done, put the omelette rice into two plates and ate with Sae until they're both done eating and Makoto bring and wash the plates before she and Sae take their baths then head to their rooms, went in and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**The next day…**

When Minato woke up the next day, he sat up then got off the bed, take off his pajamas and put on his casual yet nostalgic clothes (which is a short sleeve white T-shirt with a long sleeve button up thin black jacket over it, long grey pants and brown shoes on his feet) before he heard someone knocking on the door outside his room and he unlocked and opened the door and saw that it's Sae-san.

"Good morning, Arisato-kun. Good to see that you're already up and this room doesn't look bad after you cleaned it and unpack your stuffs." said Sae with an approving nod of her head to Minato for waking up early, cleaning his room and unpacking his stuffs.

"Good morning, Niijima-san. And thanks for the compliments." said Minato as he nodded politely to her.

"Alright, now come along and have breakfast with me and Makoto before I bring and enrolled you into Shujin Academy in Aoyama-Itchome." said Sae in a firm and serious tone of voice to Minato before she turned and walked down the hallway away from him toward the dining room. Minato stepped out and closed the door behind him before he followed after Sae toward the dining room and he soon saw Makoto sitting and finish eating her plate of bacons, toasts and scrambled eggs at the dining table before she glance at him.

"Good morning and nice to meet you, Minato Arisato-kun." greeted Makoto politely to him.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Makoto Niijima-san." greeted Minato politely back to Makoto.

" _Looks like Sis is right about him, he does seem like the polite, mature and quiet type of guy. I hope that he's stays that way and not give more trouble to my sister and if he did, he'll be sorry about it. Or maybe I could keep an eye on him tomorrow after he's enrolled into Shujin Academy since I'm the student council president there._ " thought Makoto to herself as she gave a small smile to Minato before she stood up, picked up and take her plate to the sink so she can wash it then wipe it dry with a cloth before she turned and left the dining room and head into her room.

" _So that's Niijima-san's younger sister, Makoto Niijima, huh? She seems quite the intelligent and pretty girl but she also seems like the type of person who knew about other people doing bad things to others but turn a blind eye to them and also had no choice but to do what adults told her to do before it escalated into more rubbish or trouble._ " thought Minato as he glance analytically at Makoto as she head back into her room and closed the door before he and Sae sat down and ate their plates of bacons, toasts and scrambled eggs until they finish their brekafasts before taking and putting the plates in the sink before they bade farewell to Makoto and left the apartment, went down the stairs to Sae's car and they both went into the car and Sae started the engine before she drove out of the apartment and toward Shujin Academy.

Once both Sae and Minato stopped by the side of the road near Shujin Academy, Sae turned off the car engine before she and Minato stepped out of the car, went down a street and toward and into Shujin Academy.

" _So this is the school where I will attend for my third and final year of student life, huh? As expected of an elite boarding school as large and up-to-date as my previous Gekkoukan high school back in Port Island but for some reason… it gave me an unpleasant feeling of it being a prison for inmates._ " thought Minato to himself as he take a throughout and solemn look of the interior of the school while he followed Sae up the stairs to the third floor and into the principal's office to meet the principal and his homeroom teacher (who's a short black-haired, brown-eyed man wearing a grey business suit and matching pants with a black necktie around his neck and brown shoes on his feet).

" _Good God! This is the first time that I've seen such a bald-headed and overweight man like him in my entire life, even worse than the previous principal by fat standards back in Gekkoukan high. As for the man who'll be my homeroom teacher standing next to him, he seems slightly troubled but decent enough, at least._ " added Minato with a calm look on his face while he mentally grimaced in disgust after seeing the principal.

"Greetings to you, Minato Arisato-kun, correct? We've received and heard about how you went from one school after another and managed to have excellent scores on each schools that you attend before coming here and also on how you lose your parents and nearly lose your life in an accident more than 10 years ago on a bridge in another city called Port Island." said Principal Kobayakawa pityingly to Minato (which make him twitch his eyebrow in annoyance a little at Principal Kobayakawa for talking out loud about his parents accident and death and about his life after that) before he gave a small, polite smile to him. "Regardless of your grim circumstances, we will be sure to welcome you to Shujin Academy with open arms, Arisato-kun." added Principal Kobayakawa to Minato before he glance at the man standing to his right. "Before I forget, this man will be in charge of your class."

"Hello and the name's Kyosuke Kanakubo, your homeroom teacher for the year." said the teacher as he introduced himself while giving a small polite bow to Minato before he take a student ID out of his pocket and hold it out to him. "And here's your student ID, make sure that you don't lose it and don't forget to read and obey the school's rules and when you came to school tomorrow, come to the faculty office to meet me so I can take you to your classroom, understand, Arisato-kun?"

"Yeah, I understand, sensei." said Minato as he take his student ID and nodded to Kanakubo-sensei.

"As much as I hate to be rude but are you all done and can Arisato-kun and I get going now? I'm sure you know how busy I am as a prosecutor, principal." said Sae in an annoy tone of voice to Principal Kobayakawa.

"Oh, of course, Niijima-san. Sorry to take up your time. But I must say, it's quite commendable of you to look after a promising young man like him other than your equally promising younger sister, especially at your age!" said Principal Kobayakawa as he smiled a bit widely at Sae (who scoff and ignore his words).

" _Ugh, geez, now he's trying to suck up to Niijima-san to get on her good side? And he called himself a principal? I just can't believe it._ " thought Minato with a disappointed look on his face at the principal's action and words to him and Sae before both he and Sae bade farewell to both principal Kobayakawa and Kyosuke then they turned around, walked out of the office, went down the stairs to the front entrance and left Shujin Academy.

"Well, now that I'm done in enrolling you into Shujin, I'll be going to do my job now so will you be alright going back to our apartment on your own, Arisato-kun?" asked Sae as she glance sternly at Minato.

"Of course I'll be fine, Sae-san. Don't worry about it." said Minato as he nodded at Sae.

"I'll hold you to that, Arisato-kun." said Sae seriously to Minato before they split up and went in different directions.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in the courtyard of Shujin Academy…**

Soon after both Sae and Minato leave Shujin Academy after Sae's done in enrolling Minato into it, Kyosuke Kanakubo left the principal's office, went down the stairs and bumped into Sadayo Kawakami (who had a tired and solemn look on her face) before they decided to went out through the door of the school building and walked across the courtyard toward the practice building.

"Hey, Kawakami-sensei. I've just heard about your troublesome situation. Too bad for you, isn't it?" said a slightly deep male voice from in front of Kawakami and Kanakubo, causing them to glance up at their fellow teacher (a tall, slightly tan-skinned, dark brown-eyed, broad-looking man with short black wavy hair and a broad, square jawline while he wore a short sleeve white sport T-shirt, long dark blue trousers with white stripes on it, white shoes on his feet and had a whistle around his neck).

"I can't believe that principal Kobayakawa would pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for this…" said Kawakami with a tired frown look on her face before she glance at Kanakubo. "I heard that you've also got yourself a transfer student too, Kanakubo-san. Is there any chance that we could switch transfer students, you can have mine while I have yours?" added Kawakami in a slight pleading tone of voice to Kanakubo.

"Sorry to say this but we can't do that, Kawakami-san." said Kanakubo with a shake of his head to Kawakami.

"Well, it was worth a shot." sighed Kawakami.

"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?" sighed the male teacher as he briefly closed his eyes, lowered his head and put his hands on his hips in disapproval.

"Who knows? It was the principal's decision… I was told that it's for the school's reputation." said Kawakami.

"And here I thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that." said the male teacher as he straighten himself and glance at Kawakami.

"That's certainly true." said Kawakami in agreement to the male teacher.

" _Yeah right. More like increasing your ego and others instead of contributing for the school._ " thought Kanakubo as he mentally scowled at the male teacher.

"Be careful, OK? Then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away." said the male teacher in a concern tone of voice to Kawakami as he raised, moved and stretch his arms a little.

"I guess we'll see on how he's like. I kept wishing that he'd just end up not coming to school. Still, that's not something I should be saying as a teacher…" said Kawakami as she run her hand through her hair and shake her head a little.

"Don't worry, Kawakami-san. Who knows, maybe he's not as bad as he looks." Said Kanakubo reassuringly to Kawakami (who glance and smile a little at him).

"Yeah, Kanakubo's got a point, Kawakami. Well, I should be getting back to practice now." said the male teacher.

"Oh, that's right. The tournament's coming up, isn't it?" said Kawakami.

"Hehe, having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite the problem in itself. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too." said the male teacher before he chuckled and smiled widely at Kawakami.

"Yes… that's true." said Kawakami as she nodded tiredly to the male teacher (who nodded back to her before he turned and walked down the left courtyard). "Why'd it have to be my class…? Then again, it's better than him being in Suguru Kamoshida's class. Well then, I'll be going too. See you, Kanakubo-san." Kawakami added to herself before she and Kanakubo bade farewell to each other then Kawakami walked down the courtyard toward the practice building while Kanakubo turned and walked down the left courtyard.


	4. Chapter 4

After Minato parted ways with Sae outside Shujin Academy, he went to the subway station, take the train ride to Shibuya with the intention to have lunch at the Ore No Beko shop this time, arrived and stepped out of the train with the other passengers and soon after he did, he saw his surroundings briefly turned dark purple, felt his head got light-headed and the passengers that walked out of the train with him suddenly vanished, leaving him standing alone in the now empty and quiet station.

" _Ngh… Where the heck is everyone and this feeling, it feels similar to when…_ " thought Minato as he clutched his head with his hand before shaking his head a little.

" _…When you explore Tartarus tower every midnight with your teammates in Tatsumi Port Island years ago and looks like you somehow stumbled into another reality, Minato._ " said the familiar voice of Orpheus to Minato from inside his head.

" _… Is that so? I think you may be right which means I've to find a way out of here._ " said Minato back to Orpheus before he quietly and cautiously make his way up the stairs, stepped into the underground walkway and he saw a distant and lone figure of a slightly pudgy-looking man wearing a conductor uniform standing with his back to Minato in the middle of the walkway and as Minato's about to call out to the conductor, he saw the figure of another guy wearing a full black and dark blue stripe bodysuit with dozens of belts on his arms and legs, black-clawed gauntlets on his hands, a broken short black cape on his back and a black knight helmet on his head (and Minato also saw the same glowing blue butterfly that he see flying around the frizzy-haired guy inside the train yesterday flying above and around the black knight helmet guy) walking calmly toward the conductor.

" _Hm? So that's the other Wild Card user that Elizabeth told me about that I should help out, huh?_ " thought Minato as he glance in silence at the black knight helmet guy.

" _Probably since the butterfly's flying above and around him but I can feel a strong and suppressed feeling of cold hatred for all adults inside him so be careful and don't you drop your guard around him once you try to help him, Minato._ " said the familiar voice of Messiah warningly and concernly to Minato about the black knight helmet guy.

" _Are you serious, Messiah?_ " said Minato in slight disbelief at what Messiah just told him about the black knight helmet guy.

" _Very serious and remember to be careful and not drop your guard around him, Minato._ " said Messiah firmly to Minato.

" _Alright, I won't, Messiah._ " said Minato back to Messiah and he felt Messiah gave him a relief feeling before he went back into his soul and as Minato glance back at the black knight helmet guy and the conductor, he saw the black knight helmet guy swiftly raised his left arm above him, summoned forth a menacing-looking black and white striped horned figure with 3 dark red long dreadlocks behind it's head and a huge glowing orange sword floating above the black and white striped horned figure before the figure unleash a black and red aura on the conductor, which caused the conductor to let out a yell of shock and pain as his entire body swiftly turned dark before Minato watched as the black knight helmet guy dismissed the black and white striped horned figure above him, turned around and walked away from the conductor and the next few seconds, Minato saw his surroundings turned purple and felt his head became light-headed again before he noticed that he's back in the same station with people stepping out of the trains behind him and he quickly walked out of the station, make his way toward and went into the Ore No Beko shop to ordered and pay for 2 extra large beef bowls for himself and a normal-sized beef bowl for Makoto before he grab the plastic bags that contained the takeaway foods inside, left Ore No Beko and decide to take a taxi ride home instead of taking a train ride home.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, in the Niijima's apartment home...**

"Welcome home, Arisato-kun. So, how was your re-enrollment into Shujin Academy and what did you buy back?" greeted Makoto politely to Minato at the door after he came back from Shujin Academy before she asked him a question and also noticed the plastic bags that Minato carry in his hands. " _And looks like my sister already went to do her prosecutor job since Arisato-kun came back by himself_." added Makoto in her mind.

"Well, it's at least as big and up-to-date as my previous school in Port Island, the homeroom teacher, Kanakubo-sensei looks troubled but decent enough but as for the principal…" said Minato with a calm look on his face to Makoto about the school and his homeroom teacher before a disgust look replaced his calm look when he spoke about the principal. "And I bought some dinner from Ore No Beko shop back for us to eat, Niijima-san." added Minato to Makoto.

"O-Oh, I see. Well, glad to know that you like Shujin Academy and your homeroom teacher and I know how you feel when you see principal Kobayakawa but I'm sure you'll get use to him. Also, thanks for buying back dinner from Ore No Beko shop for us." said Makoto gratefully to Minato.

"… I doubt that I will but I'll do my best. Also, you're welcome." said Minato as he nodded and smiled at Makoto.

"Yeah. I know and do you need me to show you around Shujin tomorrow, Arisato-kun?" suggested Makoto.

"Thank you and no, that won't be necessary, Niijima-san. I'm sure I'll be fine and right now, let's eat our dinner now before they get cold and before I'm going to bed to sleep, Niijima-san." replied Minato politely to Makoto.

"I see. Very well then and let's eat our dinner, Arisato-kun." said Makoto before she and Minato went to the dining room to ate and finish their dinner (which make Makoto had a shock look on her face when she see how much Minato can eat while still staying slim) before Minato threw away the rubbish, bade goodnight to Makoto before he went into his room, change into his pajamas, lie down in the bed and spend the next few minutes thinking about the black knight helmet figure that he see in the alternate reality earlier until he started feeling drowsy and fell asleep.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in the SIU Director's office…**

Inside a large, expensive and well-furnished office of the director of SIU company, an elderly, almost bald-headed, grey-eyed man wearing a dark blue business suit, black shoes and glasses on his face as he sat in his black leather chair behind his desk and Sae Niijima (who stands near the front of his desk) watched the latest news report of a subway train accident in Shibuya Station that caused no more than 80 people being gravely injured and killed on the flat-screen TV on the wall in front of them both.

"It's less of an operating accident and more of a crime of the company and the government." said the director of SIU in a displeased tone of voice to Sae standing near the desk as they continue to watched the news report. "Site inspectors apparently reported all of this 6 months ago – the deterioration of the tracks and the ATC. Seems the railway company and the Ministry of Transport both turned a blind eye to the truth. There's no way they can hide. This will go all the way to the top." the director added to Sae before he fell silent as the news report started to report a series of other accidents that had happened recently in other different places in Tokyo.

"Everything's linked – that's what you're thinking, correct?" the director asked Sae (who didn't answer his question and is still watching the news report) before he smiled, closed his eyes and lowered his head a little. "… Ah well. Are you free? You and I haven't gone for a drink for a while."

"Thank you, sir. But I have another meeting to attend. I must be going now." said Sae as she turned to glance and smiled politely to the director before she bowed to him, turned and left his office.

After Sae walked out of the office, she walked down the stairs leading down toward the front entrance of the SIU building and she soon saw a young, slightly fair-skinned, reddish-brown eyed guy with chin-length light brown hair with some bangs covering his forehead and wearing a white dress shirt with a long-sleeve tan peacoat with black buttons on it over the shirt, striped black and white necktie around his neck, black gloves on his hands, long black trousers and black shoes on his legs standing with his back leaning against the railing of the stairs at the foot of the staircase while he holds a white briefcase in his left hand and a dark red smartphone in his right hand.

"Hello, Sae-san. Did you ask for me? Is it about the new case?" asked the young guy to Sae as he noticed and turned to greet her with a smile while he put his phone in his pants pocket.

"Not quite, Goro Akechi. I want your opinion on something." replied Sae briskly as she walked past him.

"Sure. Your judgement is quite often correct, though. Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps? You're making a student work late after all." said the guy named Goro Akechi as he turned and glance at her.

"Conveyor belt, only." said Sae without looking back at Goro.

"Awww…" groaned Goro with a disappointed look on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**The next day…**

" _Good morning and wake up already, my old and sleepy friend, Minato._ " said the familiar and amused voice of Pharos near Minato, which caused him to start stirring before he slowly open and rubbed his eyes a little with his left hand before he sat up from the bed.

"Yeah, good morning and nice to see you again, Pharos." said Minato as he glance and smiled at Pharos after he greeted him.

" _Yeah, it's been a while since we last met after our final battle on the top of Tartarus tower, Minato. Now that you're up, shouldn't you get yourself ready for school?_ " said Pharos as he smiled back at Minato.

"Yeah, I know, Pharos." said Minato as he nodded at Pharos, stood up from the bed before he picked up and turned on his phone and a surprise then frown look appear on his face when he see the same creepy-looking red and black app on his phone that he saw on the phone of the other guy 2 days ago. "Huh? Why does my phone have the same app that I saw on the phone of that frizzy-haired guy 2 days ago?" thought Minato in confusion in his mind at the app on his phone.

" _Woah, that's quite the creepy-looking app on your phone and before you think about deleting it, don't because this app is going to be a huge help to you, those 2 new Wild Cards users and the others soon enough, Minato._ " said Pharos.

"Oh, is that so? In that case, I won't delete and keep it and thanks for telling me about it, Pharos." said Minato thankfully to Pharos (who smiled and nodded at Minato before he disappear into thin air and return back into Minato's soul) before he left his room, went to the bathroom to take a bath and dry himself up, return to his room to put on his new Shujin Academy uniform before he left his room again and met Makoto as she walked out of her room too.

"Oh, good morning, Arisato-kun." greeted Makoto politely to Minato.

"Uh huh. Good morning to you too, Niijima-san." greeted Minato politely back to Makoto before they went to the kitchen to cooked and ate their breakfasts (and also cooked and prepared 2 extra large boxed lunches for Minato and a normal one for Makoto) before they grabbed their bags, left the apartment and make their way toward the subway station and got on the train with the other students and passengers that will take them to Aoyama-Itchome where Shujin Academy is.

"Today's much more packed than usual and I also noticed that today's train schedules for all trains are quite slow." said Minato.

"That's because you didn't watch the news about the subway accident yesterday." said Makoto grimly to Minato.

"Hm, what subway accident?" asked Minato as he glance in confusion at Makoto.

"Yesterday a conductor suddenly went berserk and caused a subway accident that gravely injured 80 people in the train he's driving in. Furthermore, the accident caused the Ministry of Transport to resign from his job." replied Makoto.

"Seriously?" said Minato with a shock look on his face.

"Yeah." said Makoto as she nodded at Minato.

" _That'd explain what we saw the other Wild Card did to the conductor in that alternate reality yesterday, Minato. Can't believe that he make the conductor to such a cruel thing to those 80 people and cost the Ministry of Transport his job._ " said Orpheus in anger and disapproval at the other Wild Card to Minato.

" _I agreed, Orpheus. For what reason would he do that to the conductor?_ " said Messiah.

" _I guess we'll find out once we see him next time._ " said Minato to both Orpheus and Messiah before he fell silent.

After a few minutes , the train that bring both Minato, Makoto and the other passengers arrived and stopped in the station of Aoyama-Itchome, they had a bit of trouble getting off the train due to the packed passengers walking out around them but they managed to get out, make their way out of the station, down the street and they arrived and entered the school with the other students, went up the stairs to the third floor and entered the faculty office to meet and greeted their homeroom teacher, Kanakubo-sensei before he stood up and bring them out of the faculty room, turned right to head toward and entered a classroom.

Right after they entered the classroom, Makoto immediately walked away from Minato and Kanakubo-sensei toward her seat and sat down next to a fair-skinned, short shoulder-length puffy pink-haired, pink-eyed girl wearing a long sleeve pale pink sweater with long white pants and black shoes on her feet (who smiled and greeted Makoto and she smiled and greeted back to her) while Kanakubo-sensei take his place at the podium and Minato wrote down his name on the blackboard before he turned and glance at the students.

"Quiet down now, class. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce this new transfer student here. Go on." said Kanakubo-sensei to the class before he glance at Minato.

"Hello, my name's Minato Arisato. It's nice to meet you all." said Minato as he introduced himself to the class.

" _Just like before when Toriumi-sensei asked you to introduced yourself back in Gekkoukan, huh, Minato?_ " said Pharos's voice inside Minato's mind.

" _Not exactly, Pharos. There's a difference._ " said Minato mentally to Pharos.

" _Oh? Different how?_ " asked Pharos.

" _During my time back in Gekkoukan, the students are friendly and didn't gossip or talk bad about others too much but here in Shujin, the students look suspicious, distrustful and tense and now I can hear them whispering and talking about me. Listen._ " replied Minato with a slight annoy look on his face.

"That's one of the transfer students enrolling into Shujin?" said a short black-haired male student.

"He looks like one of those emo-wannabe guys. And what's the deal with his blue hair?" said another short black-haired male student.

"He seems quite the cute and mysterious type of guy. Don't you think so?" asked a long brown-haired female student to her friend sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I agreed. Maybe we'll talk to him and see if he wants to hang out with us after school ends." replied the long black-haired female student back to her friend.

"At least it's him instead of the other troublesome transfer student that came to our class." said a short dark brown-haired female student.

" _Oh, you're right, Minato. Looks like this year won't be easy but then again, that's no problem for you, isn't it? And also be careful of a teacher named Suguru Kamoshida because he's corrupted and has a palace inside him and we'll talk about it later._ " said Pharos warningly to Minato about Kamoshida.

" _Yep and alright, Pharos._ " said Minato.

"Well then, Arisato-kun. Why don't you take that seat over there, next to Okumura-kun?" Kanakubo-sensei told Minato as he raised and pointed his finger at the empty spot next to a slightly tan-skinned, short black-haired, black-eyed guy wearing the same uniform as Minato and the other male students before Minato nodded and make his way toward his seat and sat down. Right after Minato sat down, the boy sitting next to him glance and began talking to him.

"Excuse me, I know that the whispering of the students in this class is annoying but try not to let it get to you, alright, Arisato-kun?" said the boy reassuringly to Minato.

"Don't worry, I already don't mind but thanks for telling me about it anyway." said Minato as he nodded at the boy.

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear it then. Oh, and I'm Hanzo Okumura, nice to meet you, Arisato-kun." said the boy as he introduced himself to Minato.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, Okumura-kun." said Minato as he smiled politely to Hanzo.

"Come on, there's no need for you to call me by my last name, Arisato-kun. You can call me Hanzo." said Hanzo as he smiled back at Minato.

"In that case, you can call me Minato then, Hanzo-kun." said Minato before both he and Hanzo fell silent and listen to the lecture of Kanakubo-sensei.

XXXX

**Several hours later, after school...**

As the final bell rang out in the school and Kanakubo-sensei bade farewell to the students and left the class, Minato stood up and packed up his bag.

"So, what do you think about your first day here, Minato-kun?" asked Hanzo as he glance at Minato.

"I think it's fine and I'll manage, Hanzo-kun." replied Minato.

"That's good then." said Hanzo.

"Are you done packing your school's stuff, Hanzo? And isn't he the new transfer student named Minato Arisato?" said the short, fluffy pink-haired girl as she approach Hanzo before she glance curiously at Minato.

"Yes, I'm done now and you're right about him, Haru. Minato-kun, may I introduced to you my twin sister, Haru Okumura." said Hanzo as he glance back and forth between Minato and the short, fluffy pink-haired girl before he introduced her to him.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you, Arisato-kun." greeted Haru politely to Minato.

"Yeah, likewise. Also there's no need for you to call me Arisato-kun. You may call me by my first name Minato like what I told your brother hours ago, Okumura-san." said Minato as he smiled politely back to Haru.

"Okay then, Minato-kun. You may call me Haru then." said Haru to Minato (who nodded to her) before both she and Hanzo bade farewell to him and they left the classroom. Soon after Hanzo and Haru left the classroom, Makoto came back into the classroom, walked toward her seat and began packing up her bag with a troubled look on her face.

"Is something wrong, Niijima-san? You look troubled." asked Minato as he approach Makoto and noticed the troubled look on her face.

"… I guess you can say that, Arisato-kun. I've just heard and found out from some of my fellow student council members that the criminal record of the other transfer student named Akira Kurusu has been leaked into the school's website for all the students to see." sighed Makoto sadly to Minato (who gaped and widened his eyes in surprise).

"What!? But how can that be, Niijima-san? Isn't that kind of info should be kept under wraps only to the school's faculty? Unless… the one who leaked the criminal record info of this Akira Kurusu guy into the website for all the students to see is one of the teachers." said Minato with an annoy look on his face.

"B-But that can't be! No teacher would do such a thing to Akira Kurusu." said Makoto in disbelief to Minato.

"Are you sure about that, Niijima-san? What if I'm right about it?" said Minato sternly to Makoto.

"…If you're right about it, then…" said Makoto before she fell silent and shake her head ruefully. "Anyway, let's hope that it'll blows over and the students will forget and ceased talking about it. Let us go home now, Arisato-kun." sighed Makoto.

"… Fine." said Minato in disappointment at Makoto before they left the classroom, left the school (while ignoring the students gossiping about them) and walked toward the station and take the train home. After a while, the train that both Minato and Makoto were on arrived and stopped in the station before they got off the train with the other passengers, left the station and make their way back to the apartment building, walked up the stairs and went into the apartment and Makoto went into her room to do her usual studying thing while Minato went into his room, ready to have a conversation with Pharos (who appear immediately in front of him).

"Alright, let's talk, Pharos. What do you mean when you say that Kamoshida-sensei is corrupted, had a Palace inside him and that I should be cautious of him?" asked Minato as he glance at Pharos.

Pharos smiled before he began talking and explaining to Minato about corrupted people that had Palaces within them filled with their distorted desires, cognitions and shadows, about the red and black app on his phone that allows him to enter Palaces provided that he knew and type the right keywords into it and that some people who had strong and rebellious wills within them is able to withstand and prevent Palace distortions from affecting them.

Minato listen attentively to what Pharos told him until he's done then he vanished again and Minato left the room to have a quiet dinner with Makoto before he help her wash the dishes and their empty boxed lunches, take their baths separately and change into their pajamas in their rooms before they fell asleep.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

The sounds of chains rattling and of the water dripping into the toilet woke Akira up and he saw that he's back in the Velvet Room before he got up from the wooden bed that he's lying on.

"… About time you've come to. On your feet, Inmate!" snapped Caroline to Akira as she slammed her metal rod hard against the bars of his cell door.

"Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take his words to heart." said Justine coolly to Akira, who sighed and nodded before he stood up and turned to glance at Igor.

"First off, let us celebrate our reunion. Oh…? You've awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Therefore, your rehabilitation can finally begin." said Igor happily at Akira.

"You knew that I've awaken to my power? How do you know that?" asked Akira in disbelief to Igor.

"There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you've just awakened to." said Igor, ignoring his question.

"And just what is this power of "Persona"?" Akira asked Igor again.

"Personas are, in other words, a "mask"- an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you." replied Igor.

"What? Hell no! I didn't ask to be here and to have this "Persona" power that you force on me! Take it back now!" snapped Akira as he glared at Igor.

"Silence, you ungrateful inmate!" snapped Caroline as she slammed her rod hard against the cell door for the second time to silence Akira.

"It's alright, Caroline. And there is no need for you to be worry. You will know and learn when the time comes." said Igor calmly at Akira, unfazed at his outburst after he told Caroline that it's fine. "By the by… it would seem that a resurrected "Messiah" have appear. I hope that you'll be friends with him because he'll be a tremendous help in your rehabilitation and also, have you come to appreciate the "Metaverse Navigator"?" asked Igor.

"What "Metaverse Navigator"?" asked Akira in confusion to Igor before he realised what he mean. "Wait, are you talking about the creepy-looking app on my phone? And who is this resurrected "Messiah" guy that's going to a big help in my rehabilitation?"

"Indeed. Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces. I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief. And as for the "Messiah", you'll see him soon enough tomorrow." replied Igor.

" _So you're the one who put the app on my phone! And thanks for the vague answer about this "Messiah" guy!_ " thought Akira in sarcasm and annoyance at Igor.

"The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, inmate!" explained Caroline haughtily at Akira.

"Devote yourself diligently to your training so that you may become a fine thief. And be sure that you meet, be friends and recruit the "Messiah"." added Justine coolly to Akira.

"It must be disheartening for you to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief…" said Igor to Akira before they heard the sound of the alarm bell ringing again.

"Hmph, it's time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have…" said Caroline as she sneer at Akira before he felt himself started to get very tired and he stagger and fell back onto the wooden bed and slipped into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**The next day…**

" _I had yet another strange dream… This time it's something about "Fate"… "Awakening" and a "Messiah" guy…?_ " thought Akira slightly tiredly and confusingly in his mind after he woke up from her slumber before he dismiss the strange dream from his mind and stood up from the bed. " _No use thinking about it now. More importantly… I need to hurry and get ready to head to school soon._ " added Akira to himself before he put on his uniform, grabbed his school bag and umbrella before he walked down the staircase from his attic room, greeted Sojiro before he quickly ate and finish the plate of curry breakfast that Sojiro had cooked for him, bade farewell to Sojiro before he left Leblanc, open his unbrella and walked under the rain toward and down into the subway station, closed his umbrella and head into the crowded train and he started hearing the other passengers standing around him talking about the subway accident.

"What was the conductor thinking, charging into the station at top speed like that?" said a male student.

"Didn't you hear? The guy totally lose it. It's been happening a lot lately." said another male student.

"All these accidents happened because people are suddenly losing their minds, right?" asked the first male student.

"Well, because the economy sucking and how depressing the news always is, it's not that surprising." replied the second male student.

" _Just how callous are those 2 students, talking about yesterday's subway accident like that. Can't they at least show a bit of concern for the 80 peoples caught in the accident?_ " thought Akira in annoyance at the 2 gossiping students before the train arrived in the subway station of Shibuya and Akira stepped out of the train and as he waited on another platform with the other passengers, he noticed the same blue-haired guy that talk to him a few days ago in the station square of Shibuya standing beside a short dark brown-haired diligent-looking girl and also a long red-haired (which is tied up into a ponytail) young girl and wearing the same Shujin uniforms like him standing in front of him.

" _Hm? Isn't he the same guy that I met and talk to a few days ago and he wears the same uniform as mine, which means he's also a Shujin student, huh?"_ thought Akira curiously in his mind at the blue-haired guy before he ceased his train of thought and look away.

XXXX

" _It seems that the Wild Card is here and is currently standing behind you and the Niijima girl, Minato._ " said Messiah to Minato.

" _He is, huh?_ " said Minato to Messiah.

" _Yes._ " said Messiah before he fell silent.

"Look, isn't that her?" said a ponytail student.

"You mean the one with the red ribbon? Uh, I guess so?" said a sleepy student.

"She's so thin… It's not fair, I've got my hair in a ponytail too…" said the ponytail student with an envious look on her face.

"Okay, and what's that got to do with being thin?" said the sleepy student to the ponytail student and before the ponytail student could answer the sleepy student question, the train arrived, stopped in the station and opened it's doors and Minato, Makoto, Akira, the red-haired girl, the students and other passengers went into the train.

XXXX

**Inside the train…**

"Looks like we're lucky enough to be able to get some seats today, Arisato-kun." said Makoto as she gave a small smile at Minato.

"Yeah, we sure do, Niijima-san." said Minato as he nodded at Makoto before he noticed the red-haired girl standing up from her seat while Akira stand beside her and an elderly lady.

"Please, take my seat. My station's coming up." said the red-haired girl to the elderly lady standing in front of her.

"Are you sure? Then…" said the elderly woman as she smiled gratefully at the red-haired girl.

"How kind of her to offer her seat to the elderly woman plus she's quite a pretty-looking girl too." said Pharos proudly at the red-haired girl for offering her seat to the elderly woman.

 _"I agreed, Pharos. It's not everyday a young girl or guy do a good thing to an elderly person._ " said Orpheus in agreement with Pharos.

As Minato watched the red-haired girl move aside for the elderly woman to sit down, a rude businessman suddenly and swiftly sat down in the vacant seat instead of the elderly woman.

" _What the heck!? How rude of him!_ " thought Minato in disbelief then annoyance at the rude businessman.

" _Yeah, how rude of him and I pity the poor girl and the elderly woman for losing the seat to him._ " said Messiah sadly to Minato at both the red-haired girl and the elderly woman.

"Oh wow, what speed!" said the red-haired girl in disbelief at how fast the rude businessman took the seat. "I mean-Excuse me, that seat was for this lady…" added the red-haired girl to the rude businessman (who briefly glance up at both the red-haired girl and the elderly woman before he closed his eyes and fell asleep).

" _And now he's sleeping? That's even more rude of him._ " thought Minato in more annoyance at the sleeping rude businessman.

"Want me to wake him up?" asked Akira softly to the red-haired girl.

"That's okay and I'm sorry I couldn't be any help." said the red-haired girl politely to Akira then sadly to the elderly woman.

"It's all right, dearie. Don't you worry." said the elderly woman reassuringly to the red-haired girl.

"Please allow me to carry your luggage, at least." said the red-haired girl.

"Thank you!" said the elderly woman thankfully to the red-haired girl. "Ain't it heavy, though?" added the elderly woman concernly to the red-haired girl.

"Not at all! I train plenty." said the red-haired girl confidently to the elderly woman before she helped picked up and carry the elderly woman's luggage and a few minutes later, the train arrived and stopped in Aoyama-Itchome station and as Akira, Minato, Makoto and the other passengers stepped out of the train into the station, Akira (and Minato) suddenly heard a girl's voice calling out to him from behind and he turned around to see who is it and saw that it's the red-haired girl.

"Pardon me… I saw what you did for her earlier." said the red-haired girl to Akira.

"Uh huh." said Akira as he nodded at the red-haired girl.

"Yeah, exactly. By the way, you're a second-year at Shujin Academy judging by your uniform, correct? I'm a first-year there too." said the red-haired girl.

"That's right, I am. And is that so?" said Akira as he nodded at the red-haired girl.

"Uh huh and I knew it! Well then, it's nice to meet you. I should get going now." said the red-haired girl as she bowed to Akira before she walked past him, Minato and Makoto out of the station and they follow suit, walked out of the station, opened their umbrellas and head toward Shujin Academy with the other Shujin students, arrived and went into Shujin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Several hours later, lunchtime…**

" _This spot is perfect for me to have my lunch in peace since the cafeteria is packed with students having their own lunches too._ " thought Minato as he take a brief thorough look at the empty resting area in the courtyard with an approving look on his face as he holds his huge double boxed lunches in his hands before he sat down on the bench next to 2 soda vending machines, put his boxed lunches on his lap and as he open it and about to eat his lunch, the sound of approaching footsteps stopped him from eating and as he glance up to see who is it, he saw that it's the same red-haired girl (who's also holding a boxed lunch that's as big as his) that he, Makoto and Akira saw trying to helped the elderly woman in the train a few hours ago.

" _Hey, isn't she…_ " said Pharos.

" _Yeah, I know, Pharos._ " said Minato.

"Oh! I didn't know that this place already had someone having lunch too. Um… is there any room for me to sit down and have my lunch here too?" asked the red-haired girl at Minato.

"Sure, go ahead." said Minato as he gestured his head at the empty spot on the bench beside him.

"Thanks." said the red-haired girl as she smiled at Minato before she sat down, put her own boxed lunches on her lap like Minato did with his earlier before she open it and began eating her lunch.

"Well, that's quite a lot of food you have in there." said Minato with a skeptical look on his face at the huge amount of foods inside the red-haired girl's boxed lunches.

" _Totally, Minato. She has as much food as yours and yet how is it possible for you 2 and also that twin sister of yours, Minako Arisato to still stay slim and fit? I'll never get it._ " said Orpheus dryly at Minato (which make him mentally rolled his eyes at Orpheus).

"Of course since I need every last grain of rice in it. Also you're one to talk since yours is just as much as mine." said the red-haired girl.

"Touche. Well then, let's dig in." said Minato to the red-haired girl (who nodded back at him) before they began eating and finish their lunch.

"Mm, that was delicious. Don't you think so too?" said the red-haired girl at Minato before she suddenly widened her eyes in surprise and realization. "Oh! I just realized that I haven't introduced myself to you yet! Sorry about that! I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa." added the red-haired girl apologetically to Minato before she introduced herself and also hold out her hand toward him for a handshake.

"Yeah, it is and there's no need for you to apologize about it and nice to meet you, Kasumi Yoshizawa. I'm Minato Arisato." said Minato reassuringly to the red-haired girl named Kasumi Yoshizawa before he introduced himself to her then he raised and shook hands with her and once he did, he winced as he saw a vision of a sad, guilty and different-looking Kasumi inside his head. " _Ngh, that vision that I just saw… It's Kasumi and yet it's not her at the same time…_ " thought Minato in confusion in his mind about the vision that he just saw.

" _Yeah, that's weird and also I can feel some kind of power that tampered with her mind and make her think that she's someone else, Minato._ " said Messiah in agreement with Minato.

" _Really? Who would…_ " said Minato before he got cut off by Kasumi talking to him.

"Is something wrong because you suddenly blanked out." asked Kasumi in confusion at Minato.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, Yoshizawa-san. Just suddenly got a mild headache." replied Minato reassuringly to Kasumi.

"A mild headache? Do you need to see the school's nurse?" said Kasumi concernly to Minato.

"No, it's fine. It'll pass." said Minato more reassuringly to Kasumi.

"… Alright, if you say so. And judging by the badge on your blazer, you're a third-year at this academy, right? That means I've to call you senpai." said Kasumi as she smiled at Minato.

"Yes, you're right and if that's what you want then so be it, Yoshizawa-san." said Minato as he nodded at Kasumi before he felt the familiar feeling of time stop around him and he heard the same female voice talking to him from somewhere.

_To you who has bear,_

_And endured the weight of the Universe,_

_We of the Faith Arcana,_

_Give you our blessing, Messiah._

After the female voice fell silent, time resumed and Minato establish the Faith social link with Kasumi, both he and Kasumi heard the bell ringing and they quickly packed up their empty boxed lunches, left the courtyard resting area and went back to their classrooms.

XXXX

**Another several hours later, after school…**

As school ended for the day, Minato packed up his school's stuff into his bag (while Makoto left to head up to the student council room for her duty and both Hanzo and Haru also left after they bade farewell to him), left the classroom and he stopped when he saw Akira coming down the stairs and left the schooland he made up his mind to follow in silent pursuit at Akira, saw him stopped and talk to a slightly tan-skinned, dark brown-eyed, dyed blonde-haired guy wearing a yellow T-shirt that had a comic style dark pink/black star symbol and the word "ZOMG" on it and with an unbuttoned black blazer over his T-shirt, long plaid school trousers rolled up above his ankle and white sneakers on his legs before they both turned and left the school, unaware that Minato's following behind them.

Minato, Akira and the dyed blonde-haired guy spend the next few minutes walking back and forth from the station to the school until the dyed blonde-haired guy groaned and leaned against the wall near the gate while Akira glance at him with a slightly exasperated look on his face and Minato watched them from afar before he listens to their conversation.

"Is it smaller than we think it is?" muttered the dyed blonde-haired guy to himself before he glance at Akira. "What do you think?" asked the dyed blonde-haired guy.

"Hm… Why don't you try checking your phone?" suggested Akira.

"My phone?" said the dyed blonde-haired guy as he glance in confusion at Akira. "We already did that. We didn't see anything like it around here…" sighed the dyed blonde-haired guy before he trailed off into silence and a realization look appear on his face. "Huh? Phone… Hey, that reminds me-didn't you have a navigation app thingy on your phone, back then?" asked the dyed blonde-haired guy.

"Yeah, I did." replied Akira.

" _Navigation app thingy? Wait a minute… could they be talking about this red and black eyeball app that appear on my phone?_ " thought Minato as he pull out and glance at the app on his phone.

" _Could be, Minato._ " said Pharos.

"We dunno if it was or not, but we heard stuff that sounded like one comin' from your phone. You know, didn't it say stuff like "returned to the real world" or something like that?" said the dyed blonde-haired guy.

"Yeah, a voice did say that from my phone." said Akira as he nodded to the dyed blonde-haired guy before he take out his phone, turned it on and started to press buttons on it while the dyed blonde-haired guy approach and watched his phone in silence.

"What's this eyeball-lookin' thing?" asked the dyed blonde-haired guy.

" _Snrk. He called this app an eyeball lookin' thing._ " chuckled Pharos.

" _He's got a point because it does look like one._ " said Minato, feeling amused about what the dyed blonde-haired guy just said.

"I don't know what it is, Sakamoto-kun. It just appeared on my phone one day and no matter how many times I try to delete it, it kept coming back." replied Akira with a shrug of his shoulders.

" _I see. So that guy surname is Sakamoto and no matter how many times he try to delete the app, it kept coming back, huh?_ " thought Minato with a confused look on his face.

"What? What a weird app… Wait, could it be?" said Sakamoto before a realization look appear on his face before he pressed the weird app and watched as it opened up to showed it's history search. "Just as I thought, this app is a navigation app. There's even a search history in it, Kurusu."

"Really? What kind of search history, Sakamoto?" asked Akira.

"Does it matter? Let's try usin' it." suggested Sakamoto as he swiftly took the phone from Akira.

"Hey!" said Akira as he scowled at Sakamoto for suddenly taking his phone from his grasp. "Are you sure about this, Sakamoto?" said Akira skeptically at Ryuji.

" _Now that's quite rude of him to suddenly take his phone without asking first, don't you agreed, Minato?_ " said Pharos to Minato, who nodded in agreement to him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Kurusu. Don't worry about it." said Sakamoto reassuringly to Akira as he tinker with the app on his phone and they soon heard the robotic female voice spoke out from his phone.

" _Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning Navigation._ " said the robotic female voice.

" _Did you hear that voice and those words coming from his phone, Minato?_ " asked Pharos.

" _Yeah, I did, Pharos._ " replied Minato.

"There we go!" said Sakamoto excitedly to Akira. "After that, we went in a certain direction, and-" Sakamoto added to Akira before they both felt and noticed with shock looks on their faces that their surroundings started to wavered and turned purple in colour.

"Hey, what're you- Huh? What the hell!?" yell Sakamoto as he also glance around and saw what Akira see happening around them both before he glance down at the app (which is expanded and covered Akira's entire phone screen now) on Akira's phone with a shock look on his face before the both of them fade away into thin air (which surprises Minato again).

Once Minato saw that both Akira and Sakamoto had vanish into thin air, he immediately glance down at his phone and pressed and type the exact same words into the app on his phone and he watched as the app register and accept the words he type in before it expand and filled up his entire phone screen.

" _Minato, look, the school!"_ said Pharos suddenly to him.

" _Huh?_ " said Minato as he glance up at the school and gasped in surprise when he saw the school (and his surrounding) started to wavered and change and became a large medieval castle.


	8. Chapter 8

" _Are you kidding me? Of all the buildings that this corrupted Kamoshida could think up inside his mind, he choose a castle? Who the hell does he think he is, a freaking king of the castle?_ " said Minato as he glance up at the castle with an annoy look on his face after he used the app on his phone to transport himself into the Metaverse after Akira and Sakamoto.

" _That's probably how he sees himself in the school, Minato._ " said Pharos grimly to Minato.

" _Ugh, what a twisted teacher._ " said Minato as he shake his head and put his phone back into his pants pocket before he went up the steps into the castle to resumed his search of Akira and Sakamoto and he stopped and quickly crouch down and hide behind some wooden crates when he saw them standing in front of the castle's entrance. " _What the hell is that guy wearing now instead of his Shujin uniform?_ " said Minato as he glance in surprise and confusion at Akira wearing a grey high-necked waistcoat with gold accents with a black ankle-length tailcoat over it, long black jogger-style pants with black boots on his feet, bright red gloves on his hands and a black and white birdlike mask on his face.

" _What he's wearing now is the outfit of his rebellion and strong will against the rules of a Palace ruler, Minato._ " explain Pharos.

" _Is that so, Pharos? Well, I guess it does suit him._ " said Minato as he shrug his shoulders before he watched them in silence.

"We made it back… That means what happened yesterday was for real too… Yeargh!" said Sakamoto as he look around the entrance of the castle before he turned around to glance at Akira and suddenly let out a yell and stagger back a few steps with a shock look on his face (which make Akira jumped a little before he glance at him).

"What is it now, Sakamoto-kun? Suddenly yelling out like that?" said Akira in slight exasperation at Sakamoto (who's still staring at him in shock silence now).

"Kurusu! Your clothes!" said Sakamoto as he raised and pointed a finger at his clothes.

"My clothes?" said Akira in confusion to Sakamoto before he glance down at his clothes and gasped in shock when he saw that he's now wearing his alternate outfit instead of his school uniform. "What the? I don't remember changing into this outfit!" said Akira even more in confusion now.

" _Only now he realised that his clothes have change?_ " thought Minato as he let out a small sigh.

"That happened last time too, huh!? What's with that outfit!?" asked Sakamoto.

"I don't know, Sakamoto-kun!" replied Akira with a shake of his head before he glance at Sakamoto. "Why? You jealous or something?" Akira added teasingly to him.

"I-I ain't jealous!" yelled Sakamoto in denial at his words. "What's goin' on here!? This makes no effin' sense at all…"

"Hey!" a voice suddenly called out to both Akira and Sakamoto from their left and when they (and Minato) turned to see who is it that called out to them, they saw that it's the bizarre cat-thing that helped them escape yesterday came walking out from behind a corner of the castle toward them and stopped in front of them.

" _Huh? What the heck is that cat-thing and it can even talk!_ " said Minato with a surprised look on his face when he saw the cat-thing appear and approach both Akira and Sakamoto.

" _I don't know, Minato but I can sense that the essence of humanity's hope emanating from within that cat-thing._ " said Pharos.

" _Essence of humanity hope, huh?_ " said Minato.

" _Yeah and now let's be quiet and keep on watching them, Minato._ " said Pharos.

" _Alright, Pharos._ " said Minato in agreement with Pharos.

"Stop making a commotion outside the castle." said the cat-thing sternly to both Akira and Sakamoto.

"Ah… You!?" said Sakamoto in surprise at the cat-thing.

"What are you doing here, Morgana?" asked Akira.

"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be, and it turns out to be you two… To think you two would come back to the entrance when you two barely managed to escape yesterday." replied the cat-thing named Morgana as he crossed his arms.

"What is this place?… Is it the school?" asked Sakamoto.

"That's right." replied Morgana as he nodded at Sakamoto.

"But it's a castle!" yell Sakamoto in disbelief to Morgana.

" _Geez, does he have to talk so loudly?_ " thought Minato in annoyance at Sakamoto.

"This castle IS the school… But only to this castle's ruler." explained Morgana.

"The castle's ruler…?" said both Akira and Sakamoto in confused unison to Morgana.

"This castle is how his distorted heart views the school." explained Morgana even more to both Akira and Sakamoto.

"Kamoshida… Distorted…? Explain it in a way that makes sense!" muttered Sakamoto even more in confusion at Morgana's words before he scowled and demanded Morgana to explain clearly to him and Akira.

" _This Sakamoto guy is quite the impatient one, Minato._ " sighed Pharos.

" _Yeah, he sure is._ " said Minato in agreement with Pharos.

"I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it…" said Morgana as he glance at Sakamoto with an unimpressed look on his face.

"What'd you say!?" yell Sakamoto as he glared down at Morgana.

Suddenly, a loud and painful scream of a guy came out from within the castle, which make both Akira and Ryuji jumped in surprise (while a worry look appear on Minato's face) before they glance at the castle.

"What was that!?" asked Sakamoto.

"It must be the slave captives here." replied Morgana.

"Slave captives?" said Akira with a shock then worry look on his face.

"For real!?" said Sakamoto, shocked as well before they heard another loud and painful scream of another guy. "Oh, shit… it's for real! We saw other guys held captive here in the dungeons yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school." added Sakamoto grimly to Akira and Morgana.

"Yeah, I agreed too, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira as he nodded his head in grim agreement at Sakamoto.

"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here. What's more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit." stated Morgana firmly to them.

"So he decided to ordered those knight minions of his to punish those prisoners just because we make him mad by escaping from him and his castle yesterday?" said Akira in anger at Kamoshida for punishing them.

" _How could he do that to them?_ " thought Minato in anger in his mind at Kamoshida too.

"That son of a bitch…!" swored Sakamoto in anger at Kamoshida as well.

"Ryuji…?" said Morgana as he glance in concern at Ryuji.

"… This is bullshit!" yell Ryuji before he charge toward the front door and rammed his shoulder against it to try to break it open but to no avail. "You hear me, Kamoshida!?" yell Ryuji for the second time at the castle.

"Stop it, Sakamoto-kun!" yell Akira.

" _So his full name is Ryuji Sakamoto, huh?_ " thought Minato after he heard Ryuji's full name from both Akira and Morgana.

"Yeah, you should listen to Akira, also doing that isn't going to open it, you know… Still, it seems you have your reasons." said Morgana sadly to Ryuji.

"Hey, Monamona!" said Ryuji loudly to Morgana as he turned around to glance and approach him.

"It's Morgana!" snapped Morgana in bristling anger at Ryuji as he corrected him for saying the wrong name to him.

"Do you know where those voices are comin' from…?" asked Ryuji as he ignored Morgana's words to him.

"You want me to take you to them?" said Morgana apprehensively at Ryuji before he glance at Akira. "… Well, I guess I could take and guide you there. But only if he comes with us." "Very well then. Let's go." said Akira as he nodded at Morgana.

"It's settled then!" said Morgana as he briefly jumped up in excitement.

"For real!?… Thanks, dude." said Ryuji as he smiled quite widely and in relief at Akira and Morgana.

"All right, let's do this. Follow me!" said Morgana excitedly to both Akira and Ryuji before he turned around and run off and they run after him, unaware that Minato's following discreetly and quietly behind them.

Morgana brought Akira and Ryuji back to the opened ventilation shaft that they crawled through to escape the castle yesterday and they stopped right below it before Morgana turned around to glance at them. "This is our infiltration point." Morgana told them.

"Ain't that where we escaped outta last time…?" said Ryuji.

"That's right. Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery." replied Morgana.

" _Basics of phantom thievery?_ " thought Minato in confusion to himself.

"How're we supposed to know about that stuff…?" said Ryuji.

"I'll make sure to teach you 2 as we go. Come on, follow me!" said Morgana coolly to them as he turned around, jumped onto a barrel then jumped again onto the ventilation shaft before he crawled through it and into the castle.

Akira and Ryuji turned to glance and nodded to each other before Akira jumped up onto the ventilation shaft first, grabbed the edge of it with his hands before he pull himself up until he's crouching on it then he turned and hold out his hand to Ryuji for him to grab on. After Akira helped and grabbed hold of Ryuji, the 2 of them jumped out of the shaft and they soon find themselves inside the bookshelves room with Morgana.

"Man, this place is as creepy as always." said Ryuji as he and Akira look around the room.

"Mm-hm." said Morgana as he nodded his head in agreement to Ryuji. "Now, you all better make sure to do exactly as I said, all right? Follow me!" Morgana added firmly to them before he run out of the room, turned right and run down a hallway. Akira and Ryuji run out of the room, turned right and run down the hallway after Morgana back into the large ballroom.

"Hey, you guys…" said Ryuji suddenly to Akira and Morgana and they stopped walking and turned around to glance at him.

"Yes? What is it now?" asked Akira.

"Well, we went by here when we came in the front…" replied Ryuji before he trailed off into silence when he, Akira and Morgana (and Minato) saw the large ballroom briefly warped and change into the front entrance of the school then change back into the large ballroom. "What the…!? I was seein' double or something just now…! Was that Shujin!?" exclaimed Ryuji with a surprise look on his face before he glance at Akira.

"Yeah, that was Shujin for a moment, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira as he nodded to Ryuji.

" _Totally._ " thought Minato as he (and Pharos) nodded as well.

"I've told you 2 a few minutes ago. This place is your school. Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. Who knows when a Shadow might show up. Come on, this way!" explained Morgana before he told both Akira and Ryuji to keep moving and they quickly run toward a door, opened it and found themselves inside a narrow room with a spiral staircase leading down.

Akira, Ryuji and Morgana run down the spiral staircase to the bottom of it, run through a door back into the large underground dungeon place (where they and the others were locked in yesterday) before they turned to their right, run toward an opened metallic door and they quickly came to a stop and hide behind some wooden crates when they saw one of the knight Shadows patrolling back and forth on the pathway near the lifted wooden bridge far in front of them.

"Darn… I had a feeling there would be guards here… It looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward." said Morgana in slight exasperation to them.

"F-For real…?" said Ryuji.

"So what do we do now?" said Akira. "Oh well, I'll just teach you the basic of battles right now, Akira. So listen well and remember it well. As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack them from behind whenever possible. You need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a preemptive attack." Morgana told and explain to Akira.

"Okay, got it, Morgana." said Akira as he nodded to Morgana.

" _That's some strange yet good battle basics that the cat thing just told him._ " thought Minato with a small smile on his face at Morgana.

" _Yeah. It sure is, Minato._ " said Pharos as he nodded at Minato.

"Yeah, what he said! So we wanna ambush 'em and go for the first strike… All right, I got it too!" said Ryuji excitedly to Morgana.

"Uh, you know you are just going to be watching, right? You can't use Persona…" said Morgana to Ryuji (who sighed in dismay). "Anyway, let's go, Akira!" Morgana added to Akira when they saw the knight shadow turned around and began walking the other way.

"Of course!" said Akira to Morgana as they stood up, run out from their hiding place and away from Minato and Ryuji, run toward the knight shadow and Akira jumped up and landed on the shoulders of the knight shadow (which surprises him) and he grabbed hold of his mask.

"Reveal your true form to me!" declared Akira firmly to the knight as he forcefully ripped his mask away from his face before he jumped away from him, landed on the ground and watched as the knight started shaking then burst apart in the same shower of black and red liquid and reveal 2 of the same floating pumpkin-things.

" _Huh? Pyro Jack? How and what the heck?_ " thought Minato in surprise when he saw the knight shadow burst apart and turn into one of the minor personas that he used to fight shadows in the past.

_"Yeah, that's right, Minato. The shadows that you'll encounter in Palaces are Personas that you once have and summon forth to fight against Shadows before your death. But now, they've been brainwash and become shadows in Palaces and the only way to snap them out of it is for Akira to defeat and absorb them into his mask._ " explain Pharos.

" _I see._ " said Minato with a sad nod of his head.

"Now's our chance to strike first, Akira! Go!" said Morgana.

"Yeah, I know, Morgana." said Akira before he smirk at the 2 floating pumpkin-things before he summoned forth his persona Arsene (which make Minato had a surprise and awed look on his face when he saw what Akira's persona look like) and uses Eiha skill to finish off one of them. As Akira fought and finish off one of them, Morgana summoned forth Zorro and uses Garu to finish off the other one. After both Akira and Morgana fought and finish off the 2 floating pumpkin-things, they felt their power, HP and SP levels increase a little before Akira turned to glance at Ryuji.

"The coast is clear so you can come out now, Sakamoto-kun." Akira told Ryuji, who nodded to him before he came out from his hiding place and approach him and Morgana.

After Ryuji joined up with Akira and Morgana, they then run across the drawbridge and into the short hallway (with Minato following quietly behind them) with 2 dungeon rooms on both sides of them and stopped when they saw the prisoner guys wearing sport outfits locked and lying inside the dungeon rooms is no longer inside the rooms.

"Why ain't anyone here…?" said Ryuji as he glance at the empty dungeon room in confusion before he turned to scowled at Morgana. "Dammit, they were in here before! Where'd they go!?" snapped Ryuji angrily at Morgana.

"Quiet down and how do I know where they go!" Morgana snapped back at Ryuji.

"If they're not here then the most likely situation is that Kamoshida must have ordered his knight minions to take and moved them somewhere else or to the deeper level of this dungeon place, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira grimly to Ryuji.

"Then that's where we should head to now!" said Ryuji before he run swiftly past Akira and Morgana and down the hallway away from them.

"Ryuji! Stop!" Akira called out to him but he didn't answer back and didn't stop.

"God, that impulsive fool…" said Akira as he raised his hand to scratch his head in exasperation at Ryuji before they heard the sounds of running footsteps coming back toward him and Morgana, turned and saw that it's Ryuji.

"Crap, guys! I can hear footsteps comin'! Lots of 'em!" said Ryuji worriedly to them.

"Darn! It would be a problem if they discovered us now…" said Morgana before he turned, walked toward and stop in front of a wooden door next to the empty dungeon room on the left side of the hallway. "Hey, let's head into this room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave." Morgana added to Akira and Ryuji before they opened the door, went into a room (that had a wooden rectangular table with 4 chairs around the table, a wooden bed standing against the right corner of the wall with several wooden shelves and a flame chandelier hanging on the ceiling) and Ryuji quickly closed the door behind them.

"The Shadows probably won't come in here." said Morgana reassuringly to them.

"How can you tell?" asked Ryuji slightly tiredly to Morgana.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak." explained Morgana.

Soon after Morgana explain to Akira and Ryuji, they watched with surprise looks on their faces as the room briefly warped and change to an empty classroom then change back again. "

Woah, you're right, Morgana." said Akira.

"Is this a classroom…!?" said Ryuji.

"Now do you three understand?" said Morgana. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality…? Shit makes no sense at all!" said Ryuji in confusion to Morgana.

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a "Palace"." Morgana explained further to them.

"A "Palace"?" asked Akira in confusion to Morgana now.

"This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle." replied Morgana.

"So, it became like this 'cause he just thought of it like that!?" said Ryuji before he briefly laugh bitterly then clench his fists in anger. "That son of a bitch!" yell Ryuji angrily at Kamoshida.

"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy." said Morgana.

"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole's fault!" said Ryuji angrily to Morgana.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere." said Morgana calmly to Ryuji as well before he glance at Akira.

"You're curious about you outfit, aren't you?" Morgana asked Akira.

"Yeah, I'm also curious as hell about it too." said Ryuji as he glance at Akira.

" _So do I… Is what I want to say but I already know because you already told me about it, Pharos._ " thought Minato.

"Yeah, that's right, Minato." said Pharos as he nodded at Minato.

"That's also because of this world." said Morgana.

"Because of this world?" said Akira with a confused look on his face.

"More stuff that makes no sense…" said Ryuji as he leaned his back against the wall.

"Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within." explained Morgana even more to them.

"Oh, that explains it." said Akira as he nodded in understanding to Morgana.

"Uuugh, I'm so fed up with all this "distortion" and "rebellion" thing! I'm more curious about you than his change of clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?" said Ryuji in frustration to Morgana before he bluntly asked Morgana about himself.

"I'm a human-an honest-to-god human!" Morgana snapped at Ryuji.

"No, you're obviously a cat!" said Ryuji.

"This is, well… It's because I lost my true form… I think." said Morgana as he lowered his head to look down sadly.

"You think?" said Ryuji.

"But I do know how to regain my true form." replied Morgana. "The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means. Well, I ended up getting caught by his lackeys though… Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!" added Morgana as he look away then look back at them in anger at Kamoshida for torturing him.

"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy…" said Ryuji in slight exasperation to himself and Akira.

"If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along." said Morgana before he glance at Akira. "I'll be counting and helping you on fighting this time too, Akira. Is that alright?" asked Morgana.

"Of course it's alright, Morgana." replied Akira to Morgana.

"Don't worry, Kurusu, we're not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so…" said Ryuji before he pull out a handgun from his pants pocket.

"Sakamoto-kun, that's…!" gasped Akira in shock at seeing Ryuji taking and holding out a handgun to him.

" _He brought a gun? Seriously?_ " thought Minato in disbelief and shock at Ryuji having a handgun.

"It's fine, Kurusu! I brought this just in case! It's a model gun though, so it only makes sounds!" added Ryuji reassuringly to Akira.

"That's a toy gun!" said Morgana.

"But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake em' out." said Ryuji as he glance at Morgana then glance back to Akira. "I brought some medicine, too. You know what they say: "Providin is pre… something". Huh? Huh?"

"Very well then." sighed Akira as he took the gun and the medicines from Ryuji.

"So you were planning this from the start… Well, fine. If you all are ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration." said Morgana as he shake his head at Ryuji before he told them that they're all ready to go on.

Once Akira, Ryuji and Morgana are sure that the knights are gone (and they also overheard that the knights had taken the prisoners to a training hall place), they cautiously came out of the room, turned to their left to run down the hallway, saw a knight shadow standing guard in front of a cell door and Morgana began explaining to them about security levels of Palaces before both Akira and Morgana charge toward the knight shadow and take him down with their Personas and weapons.

After Akira and Morgana take down the knight shadow, they then opened the cell door, went down another hallway and walked down several staircases, saw and take down another knight shadow standing guard in front of another door with the handgun that Ryuji gave to him (and which make Morgana explain the basic of Gun Attacks, Party Tactics, Skill Selection Assistance and Rush Mode to Akira) before they resumed on walking down the hallway, met and take down some more knight shadows patrolling the hallway (and level up a little more), walk across a drawbridge to the other side of the hallway, saw another knight shadow standing guard in front of another door and Morgana explain a special battle basic to Akira called "All-Out Attack" before they charge toward the knight shadow, knock it down before they jumped and started attacking the knight shadow swiftly from all sides and finish it off (which shocked and amazed Ryuji when they saw it).

After both Akira and Morgana take down the knight shadow, they opened the door, saw that they're inside the large training hall place, walked across another drawbridge and they soon saw with sadness, horror and anger looks on their faces (specifically Ryuji) at the terrible sight of the knight shadows beating and abusing the young guys wearing sports uniforms. Both Akira and Morgana try their best to calm and restrained Ryuji as he began yelling and cursing loudly at Kamoshida and his knights for beating and abusing the sports guys (even after Morgana told him that they're cognitive beings instead of real peoples).

After a short while, Ryuji finally calm down and both Akira and Morgana released him and he thanked them for it before he decided to memorized the faces of the abused guys clearly in his mind since the camera apps on their phones are down. After he's done memorizing all of their faces, Akira, Ryuji and Morgana then turned around and quickly make their way up and out of the large dungeon place while Minato came out from his hiding place, saw what Akira, Ryuji and Morgana inside the dungeons with an angry look on his face before he turned and resumed following Akira, Ryuji and Morgana.


	9. Chapter 9

As Akira, Ryuji and Morgana (and Minato) ran back into the front entrance of the castle, they gasped and stopped running when they saw Kamoshida standing in the middle of the room with a group of 6 knight shadows (one of them is a golden-coloured knight with 2 red-coloured feathers at the top of his helmet and holding a slightly larger sword and a red, white and golden-coloured shield in his hands) standing behind him.

" _Huh? Is that Kamoshida? Why and how did he get in here and what is he wearing?_ " thought Minato as he glance in disbelief, surprise and disgust at Kamoshida.

" _Actually, that's his shadow, a deep and dark part of him that he kept from others from seeing and knowing about it, not the real Kamoshida, Minato. Also the outfit he's wearing is vulgar as hell._ " said Pharos in a disgust tone of voice to Minato about Kamoshida's outfit.

" _Oh, I see._ " said Minato.

"… You knaves again? To think you three'd make the same mistake again. You're all hopeless!" sneered Kamoshida at Akira, Ryuji and Morgana.

"The school ain't your goddamn castle! I've memorized each of their faces real good. You're goin' down!" exclaimed Ryuji firmly at Kamoshida as he took a few steps forward.

"It seems it's true when they say "barking dogs seldom bites". How far the star runner of the track team has fallen." said Kamoshida as he glance and smirked evilly at Ryuji.

" _Ryuji used to be in the track team? He's just like Kazushi. But what does Kamoshida mean by that?_ " thought Minato as he glance concernly at Ryuji.

"The hell are you getting' at!?" yell Ryuji as he glared at Kamoshida.

"I speak of the "Track Traitor" who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams. Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act." said Kamoshida tauntingly at Ryuji.

"Ngh…" grunted Ryuji as he flinch and look away from Kamoshida.

"Track Traitor"? What does he mean by that, Sakamoto-kun?" asked Akira as he and Morgana glance in confusion at Ryuji.

"What a surprise. So you two are accompanying him without knowing anything at all?" said Kamoshida mockingly at Akira and Morgana. "Sakamoto betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."

" _What!?_ " thought Minato in shock at what Kamoshida just said about Ryuji.

" _He's lying because I don't believe and can sense that Ryuji's isn't the kind of person who did what he said he did to his teammates, Minato._ " said Orpheus.

"That's not true!" yell Ryuji in denial at Kamoshida's words.

"You two have come along with that fool and are now going to end up dead… How unfortunate for you two." said Kamoshida as he ignored Ryuji's words before he raised his right hand to gestured to the knights standing behind him. "Go, kill them all. I don't want my castle to be sully with garbages like them." Kamoshida ordered his knights.

The knights obeyed Kamoshida's orders before they take a few steps forward, shake and burst apart in a shower of black and red liquid and reveal several red-eyed, dark purple-skinned horses with green horns, white manes and tails on their heads, necks and behind them.

"Goddammit…" growled Ryuji as he narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in helplessness and frustration when he saw the knights burst and change into shadow horses.

" _What kind of personas are they, Pharos? I've never seen nor have them before!_ " asked Minato with a surprise look on his face at the shadow horses.

" _Those personas are new, Minato. That's why you've never had or used them before when you and your teammates fight in Tartarus and on full moon nights._ " replied Pharos.

_"I see. Thanks for explaining and now I need to…_ " said Minato thankfully to Pharos for explaining before he began taking out his Evoker and Deus Xiphos sword from inside his blazer.

" _No, stand down, Minato._ " said Messiah suddenly and firmly to Minato.

" _Huh? Why, Messiah?_ " said Minato in surprise and confusion at Messiah.

" _Because there's no need for you to step in and help them out in certain battles and this is one of them. Otherwise, how will they stand up and rebel against their oppressors if you step in and help them, Minato?_ " said Messiah calmly to Minato.

" _…Very well then, I'll stand down but if it's too much for them to handle then I'll step in and help them, Messiah._ " sighed Minato as he reluctantly put his Evoker and Deus Xiphos sword back into his blazer and resumed watching Akira, Ryuji and Morgana.

" _As you wish."_ said Messiah before he fell silent.

"Ryuji, get back!" ordered Morgana as he and Akira run forward in front of Ryuji to shield him, summoned forth Arsene (a black-faced man with flaming orange slitted eyes, long horns on his forehead and a wide, wicked smile on his face and wearing a black shirt with a long-sleeve dark red bolero jacket over it, long black pants with thigh high dark red boots over it, a black top hat on his head, a pair of clawed black gloves on his hands and dark blue wings behind his back) and Zorro (a yellow-eyed, broad and muscular black masked male figure wearing a long-sleeve buttoned-up black shirt with a black cape behind his back, black gloves on his hands, matching long pants and short boots on his legs with a silver and red-coloured belt with the alphabet "Z" on it and holding a rapier in his right hand) as they prepared themselves for another battle against the shadow horses.

Both Akira and Morgana uses Eiha and Garu skills on some of the horse shadows and manged to defeat them. But soon after they injured and defeated them, another group of horse shadows show up to take their place, caused Akira and Morgana to keep on fighting and defeating them for the next few minutes until they started to feel out of breath from it and some of the horse shadows take advantage of them being out of breath to charge and rammed their horns several times on Akira and Morgana (which make them yell out in pain) and knock them down onto the floor. Once Kamoshida saw his knights finally take down Akira and Morgana, he approach Morgana, raised and pressed his foot down on his back.

"Rgh… You piece of-" grunted Morgana angrily at Kamoshida (who glance and smirked silently down at Morgana).

"Morgana!" yell Akira worriedly at Morgana before he felt the golden knight raised and pressed his foot down on his back, pinning and preventing him from getting up from the floor.

"Heh, that's what happens to you when you try to go against me, delinquent." said Kamoshida smugly at Akira (who glared at him) before he glance at Ryuji (who's also on his knees on the floors too). "And as for you now, I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right, Sakamoto?" sneered Kamoshida.

"No…" said Ryuji as he shake his head.

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raised your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?" said Kamoshida as he smirked at Ryuji.

"You're wrong! That wasn't practice-it was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!" said Ryuji in helpless anger at Kamoshida as he lowered himself to lay his forehead on the floor while beating the floor with his fists.

"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me!" Kamoshida sneered at Ryuji again. "That coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg." added Kamoshida smugly at Ryuji.

" _What!? This asshole of a teacher abuses him and his track team fellow members, break his leg, fired their previous coach and destroy the track team? How could he do such a terrible thing to him, that bastard!_ " thought Minato as he glared angrily at Kamoshida.

" _What a bastard indeed._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"…What?" said Ryuji as he lifted his head to look up with a shock look on his face.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!" said Kamoshida mockingly at Ryuji before he glance back at Akira. "And as for you, delinquent, I'll make sure that you won't stay long in Shujin!"

"Humph. As if I would let you do that, you bastard!" snapped Akira coldly at Kamoshida (who smirk at him).

"Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…? Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too 'cause of this asshole…!" said Ryuji in helpless anger to himself.

"So that's why…" murmured Morgana sadly at Ryuji before he let out another pained grunt when Kamoshida pressed his foot harder on Morgana.

"Once this thing and that delinquent is dealt with, you'll be next." said Kamoshida smugly to Ryuji before he began laughing in triumph.

"Ryuji!" Morgana yell out to him.

"What are you doing? Stand up for yourself! Are you just going to let this bastard get away with this!?" Akira yell out to him as well.

" _… That's right, you heard him, Sakamoto! Get back up now! Don't let what he says to you bring you down!_ " thought Minato at Ryuji as well.

"… You're right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I'll never get 'em back…" said Ryuji.

"Stay there and watch. Take a good long look as this thing die for nothing before I dealt that delinquent because they sided with hopeless garbage like you." said Kamoshida as he smirked at Ryuji.

"No… That's what you are… All you think about is using people… You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!" snapped Ryuji as he stood up from the floor and slowly approach Kamoshida.

"What are you all doing? Silence him!" Kamoshida yell at his knights.

"So don't you dare look down on me with that stupid smile on your face!" yell Ryuji as he stopped walking, glared hatefully and raised and pointed his finger at Kamoshida.

" _You've made me wait quite a while._ " said a deep male's voice slightly impatiently at Ryuji.

Soon after Ryuji heard the deep voice of the male spoke to him from somewhere, his eyes abruptly turned bright yellow before he felt indescribable pain suddenly wracked his head and body, causing him to raised his hands to clutch his throbbing head before he fell groaning then screaming and writhing in pain and agony on the floor.

" _You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced by him already, why not hoist the flag and wreck havoc…? The "other you" who exists within desires it thus… I an thou, thou art I… There is no turning back… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!_ " said the male voice firmly to Ryuji (who stopped writhing and screaming in pain and agony as well) before a dark grey, skull-like mask appear on his face.

" _Woah, what the? A mask appear on Sakamoto's face?_ " thought Minato with a surprise look on his face at the dark grey, skull-like mask that suddenly appear on Ryuji's face.

"Hmph. What can you do?" sneered the knight pinning Akira on the floor at Ryuji. "Cower in fear and watch!"

Ryuji stood up from the floor as he tightly grabbed hold of the mask with his hands to try to pull it away and he managed to ripped the mask off of his face, causes blood to burst out and run down his face as he screamed in pain before a strong beam of dark blue flame suddenly appear and enveloped around Ryuji while a strong gust of wind blow out toward Kamoshida and his knight minions and send them flying backward and falling on their backs on the floor away from them and both Akira and Morgana (who stood up from the floor and watched Ryuji awaken to their Personas with silent shock, awed and approval looks on their faces).

As the dark blue flame and the gust of wind slowly died down and reveal Ryuji (whose uniform had change into a different long sleeve black leather jacket with a long red scarf tied around his neck, matching long pants with knee pads on it, a slightly large grey belt tied around his waist, dark grey combat boots on his legs and a pair of yellow gloves on his hands) with an intimidating-looking Persona floating in thin air behind him. The one floating behind Ryuji is a skeletal-faced, yellow-eyed pirate man standing on and using a dark blue ship like a skateboard with the face of a war head painted on the front of it and wearing a long sleeve blue admiral coat with two swords crossed over each other on the front of his coat, a yellow cannon on his right hand and a yellow glove on his left hand, long black trousers and matching short black boots on his legs with a long red cape billowing behind him, an eyepatch covering his left eye and a black pirate hat with a white skull painted on the front of it on his head. A second later, Ryuji raised his head to glance and smirked wickedly at Kamoshida.

"Ugh… This one as well!?" said Kamoshida as he and his knight minions stood up from the floor.

"Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin' rocks!" said Ryuji excitedly as he glance down at his gloved hands. "Now that I got these powers like Kurusu and Morgana, it's time for payback… Yo, we're ready… Bring it on!" said Ryuji as he clasped and cracked his knuckles together while staring smugly at Kamoshida and his knight minions.

"Are you alright, Morgana?" asked Akira worriedly to Morgana.

"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Morgana reassuringly to Akira.

"Ngh… Don't mock me, you brats!" snapped the golden-armored knight angrily at them before he transform into a red-armored knight sitting on a purple horse and holding a menacing long spear in his left hand.

" _Eligor…_ " thought Minato as he watched the golden-armored knight transform into another minor persona that he used before.

"Blast them away, Captain Kidd!" yell Ryuji as he raised his hand and pointed a finger at the red-armored knight sitting on his horse.

"What troublemaker brats that dared bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!" yell the red-armored knight to them.

"Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin' right? Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am! Let's do this, Captain Kidd!" exclaimed Ryuji as he briefly glance up at Captain Kidd as well.

The red-armored knight shadow scoffed at them as he raised his spear to summoned forth 4 horse shadows then ordered them to charge and rammed them down. Akira, Morgana and Ryuji got into battle stances and uses Eiha, Zio and Garu skills on the 4 horse shadows and take them down. They then uses their skills on the red-armored knight and his horse, managed to knock him down before they jumped and attack the knight and his horse swiftly and relentlessly from all sides until they defeated him together.

" _My goodness, their all-out attack is much more faster and brutal than the all-out attack that my teammates and I did together in the past._ " thought Minato with an awed look on his face at the all-out attack performed by Akira, Morgana and Ryuji.

"I am… a loyal subject… of the glorious King Kamoshida… So why… have I lost!?" said the knight weakly to himself.

"It just proves that Kamoshida ain't anything special at all." said Ryuji smugly at the knight while Akira nodded in agreement to Ryuji. The knight shadow and his horse then transform back into it's previous golden-armored knight look before he fell on his back on the floor and moved no more while Kamoshida stared down at him with a disappointed look on his face. As for Ryuji, he panted in exhaustion and take deep breaths of air for himself since the awakening of his Persona drained him greatly.

"So tired… How 'bout that!?" yell Ryuji as he weakly glared at Kamoshida after he's done catching his breath.

"Whoa… So Ryuji had the potential too, like me and Akira…" said Morgana as he glance in awed at Ryuji.

"Even if you apologize to us now… We ain't forgivin' you…!" added Ryuji angrily at Kamoshida.

"I told you all that this is my castle. It seems you all still don't understand…" said Kamoshida smugly to them as he took a few steps forward before he turned to glance to his right, raised and hold out his hand to gestured someone to come out. The next second, an unknown blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl wearing purple leopard print bikini and also wearing a diamond tiara with cat ears on them on the girl's head came walking out toward Kamoshida and wrapped her arms and body near Kamoshida. Akira, Ryuji and Morgana gasped and gaped in shock when they saw who the girl is.

"Wh- Takamaki!?" sputtered Ryuji.

"Who is she, Sakamoto-kun?" asked Akira as he glance at Ryuji.

"Oh… what a meow-velous and beautiful girl…!" purred Morgana as he glance dreamily at the girl.

" _Geez, seriously?_ " thought Minato in disapproval at Morgana.

"What's going on…!?" said Ryuji in confusion.

"I don't know, Sakamoto. But there's something off about this." said Akira as he glared at Kamoshida.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, Kurusu… But why is Takamaki even here!?" said Ryuji as he glance at Akira then glance back at Kamoshida and not-Takamaki and saw Kamoshida started caressing not-Takamaki's jaw. "Hey! Let go of her, you perv!" yell Ryuji angrily at Kamoshida.

"How many times must I tell you all until you all understand?" said Kamoshida as he glance in annoyance at them. "This is MY castle-a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me… That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you all." added Kamoshida as he let go of not-Takamaki's jaw.

"Takamaki! Say somethin'!" Ryuji called out to her but she ignored him.

"Calm down, Ryuji! It seems that girl isn't the real one! She's the same as those slaves-beings made from Kamoshida's cognition of them!" Morgana said and explain to Ryuji.

" _So she's not real, huh? Glad to know that._ " thought Minato with a relief look on his face.

"Are you jealous?" asked Kamoshida smugly to them.

"Of you? No, I'm disgusted at what I see now." snapped Akira angrily at Kamoshida.

"Hmph. Maybe not you but I'm sure Sakamoto is. After all, women aren't drawn to problematic punks like you all." said Kamoshida mockingly to them.

"Dammit…!" said Ryuji as he glared at Kamoshida.

"Don't listen and ignore that sick bastard, Sakamoto-kun. He's just trying to riled you up." said Akira.

" _Yeah, you tell him._ " thought Minato in approval at Akira.

"Clean them up this instant!" yell Kamoshida before a group of 5 knight shadows (which had glowing red auras emanating out of their entire bodies) appear between him and his cognitive Takamaki and Akira, Ryuji and Morgana before they surrounded them.

"Dammit! He sent out a group of powerful ones and they already got us surrounded!" groaned Morgana with a worry look on his face at the 5 knight shadows that appear and surrounded them.

"For real!?" said Ryuji with a shock look on his face.

"Oh, dammit." said Akira with a worry look on his face.

" _Not good. They're in a pinch and I'm going to help them now, Messiah_!" said Minato worriedly to Messiah.

" _Very well since those red shadows are too powerful for them to fight and defeat, Minato._ " said Messiah.

_"I'll assist you in helping them too, Minato. But only for a short time because I don't want you to collapse and passed out like the time I burst out of Orpheus to fight and defeat that Magician shadow. Understand?_ " said Pharos warningly to Minato.

"Yeah, got it and let's go, Pharos." said Minato before he came out of his hiding place, run toward and stop behind one of the red knights with his Evoker and Deus Xiphos sword in his hands while Akira, Ryuji and Morgana were shocked when they see Minato suddenly showed up.

"What the!? Who are you!?" said Ryuji in surprise at Minato.

" _Hm? Isn't he the same guy that I met a few times in the station? How and why is he here?_ " thought Akira as he recognized Minato.

"Whoever this blue-haired guy is, he gives off a very bad feeling, almost like the feeling of Death." muttered Morgana to himself as he glance cautiously at Minato.

"Hm, another intruder in my castle? Wait a minute… aren't you the other transfer student guy that also enrolled into Shujin? Humph, another "promising young man" for Shujin, my ass. Looks like you're also nothing but the same hopeless trash like them too, aren't you?" said Kamoshida mockingly to Minato (who completely ignored him).

"I'll explain later. Right now I'm going to help you guys take out these Shadows first." said Minato calmly to them before he raised and pointed his Evoker on the right side of his head, which immediately caused Akira, Ryuji and Morgana to start gasping then protesting when they see what he did. "Come forth and decimate them, Thanatos!" said Minato before he pull the trigger and the Evoker let out a loud bang, causing bright blue glass-like fragments to burst out of his head (instead of blood and brain matters that Akira, Ryuji and Morgana were expecting in fear and horror) before bright blue/white flames appear and enveloped his entire body and change his Shujin uniform into another different long sleeve, high collared silvery white, buttoned-up jacket with a black shirt under his jacket, black belt tied around his waist, black gloves on his hands, long black and white pants and black shoes on his feet and a silvery white Messiah mask on his face while a great yet terrifying-looking figure of the personification of death as it holds a long and menacing-looking sword in it's right hand and with a cape of coffins with the figures of robed women holding blades in their hands in front of them on the cape of coffins behind it appear and floated above Minato before it let out a loud roar at Kamoshida and his knights then it charge toward the knights, proceed to swiftly attack and slashed the knights to pieces with it's sword until they burst apart and dissipated into black mists and Thanatos swiftly disappear and return within Minato.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, inside a room on an island…**

A short blonde-haired, light blue-eyed female android gasped and opened her eyes in surprise then fear when she felt a strong ominous feeling rose up from within her.

"This feeling… It's the same feeling that I've felt 5, 6 years ago when that guy show up in school then on the Moonlight Bridge at midnight when the Dark Hour occurred. It's… Death! Death has returned!" thought the female android in sadness, shock then horror before she stood up from the oval-shaped machine pod that she's lying on for her recharge and left the room to tell her friends about it.

XXXX

"What!? Him too!?" said Kamoshida with a disbelief look on his face at Minato calling out his persona and getting rid of his knights.

" _No way… He's a persona-user too?"_ thought Akira with a surprise then awed look on his face at Minato.

" _The persona that he just summoned out is the source of the bad feeling of Death that I've sense after he showed up!_ " thought Morgana as he shivered and with a fearful look on his face at Minato's persona.

" _It's been a while since I've felt this familiar feeling of summoning forth one of my stronger persona and luckily this time I didn't collapsed and passed out from calling you out like before, Thanatos._ " thought Minato to himself and to Thanatos (who mentally nodded to him) before he glance at Akira, Morgana and Ryuji. "What're you guys doing still standing there for? We need to leave now before he called for more reinforcements." said Minato.

"Y-Yeah, you're right. We should leave now." said Morgana as he nodded in agreement with Minato.

"Yeah, we know. Come on, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira as he glance at Ryuji.

"Ngh… Fine." said Ryuji in reluctant agreement with them before he glared at Kamoshida. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us, Kamoshida…!" added Ryuji firmly to Kamoshida (which make him laugh evilly at Ryuji after he regained his composure).

"Fine! I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here! Come at me whenever you all want, if you don't care about your lives!" said Kamoshida smugly to them before he let out another evil laugh, turned and began walking away with not-Takamaki following behind him.

"Ignore him! Let's go!" said Morgana as he turned to glance at Akira, Ryuji and Minato before they turned and run away from them and out of the ballroom toward the room where the ventilation shaft is and quickly climb up and crawled out of the castle.

XXXX

Once Akira, Ryuji, Minato and Morgana got out of the castle through the ventilation shaft, they stopped near the entrance of the castle to catch their breaths.

"Well, glad to see and know that we've outrun those knights and escape from the castle. But now, I don't remember changing into this outfit so what's up with these strange outfits and masks that we're all wearing now?" said Minato as he glance confusingly at his new outfit.

"Yeah, you're right! I don't remember changin' into this either!" panted Ryuji as he straighten himself and glance down at his new outfit.

"Neither do I. But don't you guys think that these outfits suits us a lot?" said Akira as he also glance down at his new outfit as well before he glance up at both Minato and Ryuji.

"I guess you're right. These new outfits does suit us in a way." said Minato in agreement with Akira.

"Uhh… Should we be happy about what you just said about our new outfits?" said Ryuji as he felt a little embarrassed at Akira complimenting their outfits. "Then again, it ain't as bad as yours or his."

"Quiet, you all! Kamoshida's knights are still looking for us!" whisper Morgana slightly harshly to Akira, Ryuji and Minato and they immediately stay silent and listen to the voices of the knights talking and searching for them in every rooms from inside the castle until they went away to another inner part of the castle. Once they're sure that the knights are gone, they relax and resumed their conversation.

"So what's goin' on? I'm completely lost, guys…!" said Ryuji.

"I told you 2 before. When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions." explained Morgana to them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I see. Thanks for the explanation, Morgana." said Akira.

"Is this… a skull?" asked Ryuji as he take off his mask and glance at it.

"Your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the will of rebellion that slumbers within… Not that you'll get it." said Morgana as he smirk at Ryuji.

"Nope…" sighed Ryuji as he lowered his head and slumped his shoulders a little.

" _The will of our rebellion, huh?_ " thought Minato as he glance at his and Ryuji's new outfits.

"Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is." said Morgana in a slightly exasperated tone of voice to Ryuji.

"Easy for you to say." Ryuji retorted back to Morgana as he put his mask back on his face then crossed his arms over his chest before he gasped in shock when he realised something. "Wait, we're in deep shit!" added Ryuji with a worry look on his face.

"Like what, exactly? And didn't this cat already told you to pipe down?" said Minato as he scowled at Ryuji.

"He's right, Ryuji! Be quiet and also, don't call me a CAT!" added Morgana before he snapped and scowled at Minato for calling him a cat.

"We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school…" said Ryuji nervously to them, ignoring Minato and Morgana's words.

"Oh shoot. You're right, Ryuji." said Akira grimly to Ryuji.

"That's quite sharp of you!… For being an idiot." said Morgana in mock praise to Ryuji. "Relax, you two. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed-a side of one's personality they don't want to see." added Morgana reassuringly to them.

"… So we're okay?" asked Ryuji.

"Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?" asked Morgana.

"No, he didn't, Morgana." replied Akira.

"There you have it." said Morgana smugly to them.

"I see. Glad to hear and know that." said Minato with a grateful nod of his head.

"All right! Now that we know that, all we gotta do is-" Ryuji began saying to both Akira and Minato before he got cut off by Morgana.

"Wait. I guided you all as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me." Morgana told them and they glance down at Morgana with confused looks on their faces. "That's why I was super nice about teaching you two idiots."

"Huh? Cooperate?" asked Ryuji in confusion to Morgana.

"Cooperate with you about what exactly, Morgana?" asked Akira.

"Oh, that's right, you just showed up and you weren't with these two when they freed me from my prison cell in the castle a few days ago so I guess I'll tell you now but don't you two remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form. That's why we must delve deep into Mementos and-" replied Morgana before he got cut off by Ryuji.

"Whoa, hold on. What're you goin' on and on about? We never said anything about helpin' you out." said Ryuji as he glance at Morgana.

" _Mementos?_ " thought Akira to himself about the mysterious place called "Mementos" that Morgana just told them.

"Huh? Don't tell me… Are you guys not going to repay the hospitality that I showed you all?" said Morgana as he glance at Ryuji in surprise before he glance at Akira. "And what about you? You're going to up and leave too, even though you're already part of my master plan!?"

"What? Well, it's true that we do promise to helped you out, Morgana. But still…" said Akira softly and slightly guiltily to Morgana (which make him frown sadly at Akira).

" _Seriously?_ " thought Minato in disapproval at Akira.

"Hmph. What breaker of promise these two are, Minato." said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"Come on, we're busy!" said Ryuji (which make Minato scowled at him) as he scratch his head a little before he crouch down in front of Morgana. "Thanks for everything, cat. You've got guts, bein' a cat and all! See you around! Let's go, you guys!" added Ryuji as he grinned at Morgana before he stood up, turned and walked swiftly away with Akira following behind him while Minato gave him an apologetic look and follow after them both.

"Hey! What the hell!? Ugh, seriously! Why're you all wrapping this up like everything's all hunky-dory!? Oh hell no! Get back here!…Grrr… GRAAGGGHHH!" yelled Morgana as he jumped up and down in anger at Akira, Ryuji and Minato for leaving him behind.


	10. Chapter 10

**A few minutes later, in the alleyway opposite Shujin...**

" _You've returned to the real world. Welcome back._ " said the robotic female voice from the app on Akira's phone to Akira, Ryuji and Minato after they came out from the other world before both Akira and Ryuji stand and leaned their bodies against the wall inside an alleyway opposite Shujin Academy to catch their breaths while Minato waited in silence.

" _I know how tired these 2 are feeling right now since my teammates and I also gone through the same thing as we ascend the Tartarus Tower and fighting shadow along the way until we managed to reach the top on the promise day to fight Nyx a few years ago._ " thought Minato to himself.

" _Yeah but you did good like before and you've once again awaken and summon me forth to fight and without collapsing from exhaustion like before, luckily._ " said Pharos in a relief tone of voice at Minato.

" _Yeah, I agreed and also thanks to you gave him a warning earlier, Thanatos._ " said Messiah thankfully and in agreement with Pharos.

"Yeah, I know, Pharos, Messiah." said Minato.

"…Thank god. We're back." said Ryuji in relief before he turned to glance tiredly at both Akira and Minato. "I dragged you around in that castle a lot before he showed up to helped us, huh?… I'm sorry, man. And also thanks for helping us." said Ryuji apologetically to Akira then thankfully to Minato.

"It's fine, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira reassuringly to him.

"No problem." said Minato as he nodded at Ryuji.

"Ugh, I'm dead tired… How are you 2 holdin' up?" asked Ryuji.

"I'm quite tired." replied Akira quietly.

"Not me, I feel fine." replied Minato as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Seriously? Whatever… Man, I'm gonna sleep like a rock when I get home." said Ryuji tiredly to both Akira and Minato before he grinned widely at them. "But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin' like slaves. Once we find and make 'em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done. So… you two wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?" added Ryuji in a triumphant tone of voice to both Akira and Minato before he asked them a question.

"Alright, I'll help you out, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira.

"Are you sure? Because…" said Minato concernly at Akira.

"Really!? Great! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" said Ryuji happily to them both, cutting off Minato's words.

"Now just hold on a minute. I think there's one thing you've forgotten about Kurusu-kun, like his record as a false criminal, for example." said Minato as he remembered about Akira's record and remind Ryuji about it before he glance sadly at Akira.

"Oh yeah, you're right. Everyone already knows about his record. They totally got him pegged as a criminal." said Ryuji as he glance sadly at him too.

"It's fine, you two. I don't mind about it." said Akira reassuringly and Ryuji before he frowned and crossed his arms. "But I'm curious, how is it that all the other students knew of my record?" asked Akira curiously to Ryuji.

"Kamoshida blabbed about it to them, that's how they all knew, Kurusu!" replied Ryuji with a scowl look on his face.

" _How could he do such a thing to Kurusu-kun? And he still called himself a teacher?_ " thought Minato with a cold look on his face at Kamoshida for leaking Akira's record for the students to see and gossip about.

"Why am I not surprised that he's the one who told them?" said Akira with a shake of his head.

"No one else besides a teacher could've leaked it out that fast!" said Ryuji as he angrily crossed his arms over his chest. "It doesn't matter if it's a student or a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn't like or agree with. Just like he did with me…! No one'll take anything I say seriously."

" _Seriously, no one at all? Just what's wrong with these people these days and I can't believe that I gave my life once to saved them all from the Fall._ " thought Minato in cold disappointment in his mind.

"Still, those rumors about him doing physical abuse on those volleyball members might be real, after what we saw in that basement dungeon room inside and under the castle." said Akira.

"Yeah. And after seein' Kamoshida's distorted heart-thing in person, there's no way I can just sit back!" said Ryuji with a determined look on his face to Akira and Minato.

" _Good god, the more I heard Sakamoto-kun talk about this Kamoshida and the bad things he did to his team and other students, the more annoy and angry I've become about him._ " thought Minato with an even more cold look on his face.

" _So do I, Minato._ " said Orpheus.

"I'll helped you guys out too, like I say a few second ago." said Akira.

"Are you sure about that, Kurusu-kun? What about your record, remember?" asked Minato concernly to Akira.

"Yes, I know and I'm sure about it. And as for my record, it should be fine as long as I'm being careful about it." replied Akira calmly to Minato.

"…Very well then." said Minato as he nodded at Akira.

"In that case, we'll be countin' on each other! Don't you two worry; I'm hyped about this too!" said Ryuji excitedly to both Akira and Minato and they nodded to him before Minato froze when he felt the familiar feeling of time around him stopped and he heard a girl's voice spoke to him from within his head.

_**To you who has bear,** _

_**And endured the weight of the Universe,** _

_**We of the Fool and Chariot Arcanas,** _

_**Give you our blessings, Messiah.** _

After the girl's voice fell silent, Minato look up and saw 2 cards (a pale blue card with the figures of a man holding a stick with a bag hanging at the other end on his shoulder behind him and with the figure of a dog following behind him and a red, yellow and black card with the figure of a knight standing on two lions) appearing and floating above Akira and Ryuji's head before they fell and landed accurately on his hand and he quickly put the cards into his pocket before time resumed around him just as his and Ryuji's stomach started growling quite loudly.

"What the? Was that both of your stomachs?" asked Akira with a surprise look on his face at both Ryuji and Minato after he heard their stomachs growling.

"Oh… right. I haven't eaten anything since lunch." muttered Ryuji in slight embarrassment to Akira and Minato. "It'd be weird splittin' off now, so why don't we grab a bite somewhere? And I know a place where we can eat." said Ryuji.

"Is that so? Then lead the way." said Minato.

"Yeah. And also, we've some questions that we wanted to ask you about." said Akira firmly to Minato.

"That's right, we do!" said Ryuji in agreement with Akira.

"Yeah, I know. But only questions that I can answer." said Minato as he nodded to them both before they walked out of the alleyway and walked away from Shujin toward the subway station.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, inside a spacious and expensive-looking office room inside a mansion on the island…**

"Are you sure that you detected the presence of Death appearing and it is now somewhere in Tokyo, Aigis?" said a fair-skinned, dark red-haired, grey-eyed beautiful, cold and intimidating-looking woman wearing a dark grey business suit and pants and matching heels on her feet sitting on a black leather chair behind a white and grey marble table quite firmly to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed female android named Aigis standing in front of her.

"Yes, I'm very sure about it, Mitsuru-san. There's no mistake from my detection device inside me. Please, sent me and a few of our other old friends to Tokyo to search for it and sealed it again or destroy it if possible." said Aigis firmly to the woman named Mitsuru (who's thinking in deep silence about it before she finally nodded to her).

"Very well, Aigis. I'm going to call up our friends and ask if any of them are free to go with you to Tokyo to find Death. In the meantime, go back to your room and wait for further orders from me." said Mitsuru as she picked up her phone and started calling their old friends.

"Understood, Mitsuru-san." said Aigis thankfully to Mitsuru before she turned and left Mitsuru's office and head back to her room to wait for further orders while Mitsuru quickly take out her smartphone to call her friends.


	11. Chapter 11

**Meanwhile, inside a modest-looking two-storey house…**

"Happy birthday, Minako." said a slightly pale-skinned, shoulder-length unkempt greyish brown-haired, grey-eyed tall man wearing a long sleeve black shirt, long black pants with a white apron over his shirt and pants and brown shoes on his feet gently to the fair-skinned, long auburn-haired, red-eyed woman (named Minako) wearing a short white shirt with a long sleeve red cardigan over it, long dark red pants on it and black heels on her feet as he put a plate that had a piece of dark and white chocolate praline cake with a single candle on it down on the table in front of Minako.

"Thank you for creating another delicious cake for me on my birthday as usual, Shinjiro." said Minako happily to the tall man named Shinjiro about the piece of cake that he create for her on her birthday. " _And also happy birthday to you too, Minato."_ added Minako sadly in her mind since today's also her deceased twin brother's birthday too and as Minako picked up her fork and about to eat her birthday cake, both she and Shinjiro heard and felt their phones start ringing with incoming calls in their pockets and they take out their phones, saw that the caller ID is from Mitsuru.

"Seriously? Why is she calling us on the day of your birthday?" said Shinjiro with a displeased look on his face.

"Only one way to find out, Shinjiro." said Minako softly to Shinjiro before she answer it. "Hello, Mitsuru-san. What is it that you're calling us for?" asked Minako curiously to Mitsuru while Shinjiro watched and waited in silence.

" _Hello, Minako. I know that today's your birthday and if my call interrupts your birthday celebration then my apologies but Aigis gave me some grave news that I need to tell you about._ " said Mitsuru apologetically then grimly to Minako.

"Is that so? What kind of news?" asked Minako concernly to Mitsuru.

" _Do you remember Death and that your… twin brother used to be it's vessel? Well, Aigis told me that she sensed that it's back and that it's found itself a new vessel to contain it somewhere in Tokyo, Minako._ " replied Mitsuru more grimly to Minako.

"W-What, are you serious, Mitsuru!? It's back and it already found itself a new vessel to contain itself somewhere in Tokyo?" gasped Minako as she swiftly stood up from her chair and with an outraged look on her face.

"Huh? What's wrong and what's back, Minako?" demanded Shinjiro worriedly at Minako (who give him a "I'll-tell-you-later" look).

" _That's right, it's back, Minako. I've already call and tell the others before I call and tell you about it so that if any of you aren't busy, you guys can go to Tokyo to find and bring back the new vessel of Death so we can detain and contain it securely in the Kirijo's lab away from innocent people, whoever it is._ " said Mitsuru.

"… I see. That's probably for the best even if I do a little bad for whoever it is that became it's new vessel." said Minako sadly to Mitsuru.

" _I know what you mean and feel about it. Hopefully he or she is an understandable and cooperative person once he or she hear our explanation, Minako. That's all I'll tell you and please tell Shinjiro about it because I know that he's with you right now. Goodbye._ " said Mitsuru before she bade farewell to Minako.

"Sure, goodbye to you too, Mitsuru-san." said Minako as she bade farewell to Mitsuru, disconnect the call, put her phone back into her pocket before she glance and tell Shinjiro everything that Mitsuru told her, which caused his face to turned pale with worry before he and Minako picked up and put the birthday cake in the fridge, grab their Evokers, passports and other necessary items before they left the house.

XXXX

**Inside the beef bowl shop in the Central Street of Shibuya…**

Ryuji bring both Akira and Minato to a beef bowl shop before they entered the place, sat down on 3 empty chairs in front of a counter, ordered and waited for their foods to come and when they did (which shock Akira when he see 2 extra large beef bowls and a huge glass of Sprite in front of Minato (who tell them who he is and that he goes to Shujin like they did) while Ryuji asked Akira about how he got a criminal record), Ryuji, Akira and Minato picked up their chopsticks and began eating.

"WHAT!? The hell! How much shittier can that asshole be!?" yelled Ryuji in a shock then angry tone of voice as he and Minato (who scowled at Ryuji for yelling loudly) stopped eating their beef bowls and glance at Akira (who's sitting between them) after he told them both on how he got a criminal record.

"That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that. And I agreed with him, that man who did that to you is truly an asshole." said Minato sadly to Akira.

" _I agreed too. What a callous and heartless man and the woman that he helped out is no better either._ " said Messiah coldly at the unknown man and woman.

"It's fine, you two. And also, calm down and don't yell so loud next time, Sakamoto-kun. It's all in the past now." said Akira reassuringly to Minato then sternly to Ryuji for his yelling.

"Are you for real, Kurusu? If it was me, I wouldn't calm down until I punched that dick in his face." said Ryuji in disbelief at Akira.

"And so, that's why you left your hometown and came to Tokyo to live with the owner of Leblanc café named Sojiro Sakura, huh?" asked Minato rhetorically to Akira.

"Yes, that's right." replied Akira with a nod of his head.

"You know, after hearing about your past, you and me might be more alike than I originally thought, Kurusu." said Ryuji.

"And exactly what do you mean by that, Sakamoto-kun? What did you do?" asked Akira in slight confusion at Ryuji.

"Yeah, tell us. What did you do?" added Minato before he resumed eating his beef bowl.

"Well, I don't got a record like you. I mean, that's not the point." replied Ryuji as he frowned at them both.

"Then what's your point?" said Akira.

"I think what Sakamoto-kun meant is that how both you and him are treated like useless hindrances by the other people around us, like you two don't have a place to belong." explained Minato.

"What the heck? Why you have to say it out to him before I did?" said Ryuji as he scowled at Minato.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'll keep quiet now and let you tell him the rest yourself." said Minato as he briefly raised his hands in a mock placating manner as he finish eating his first beef bowl then start eating his second one.

"Let's hear it, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira.

"Well, I did something stupid at school before though, that's it." replied Ryuji before he trailed off into silence.

"What? That's it?" said Akira in disbelief at Ryuji.

"Yeah, that's it, Kurusu." said Ryuji before he and Akira turned and glance at Minato (who stopped eating his second beef bowl to prepare himself for their questions). "Now it's your turn to answer our questions. How did you get inside Kamoshida's palace without us knowing about it until you showed up to helped us!? Why the hell would you point a freaking gun at your head and shoot yourself!? Are you effin' crazy or something!?" demanded Ryuji.

"How did I get inside the palace of that sorry excuse of a teacher without you 2 knowing about it until I showed up and helped you 2 out, you asked? Easy because my phone have the same app that both of you have in your phones too. As for why I point a freaking gun to my gun, that's how I'm able to summon forth my persona to fight Shadows, unlike you 2 who summon forth your own personas by ripping off your masks. And finally, I'm not crazy for doing it, Sakamoto-kun." Minato explain and answer Ryuji's questions calmly and a bit coldly.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling us that there's more than one way to summon personas?" asked Akira in surprise at Minato.

"Yes, that's right." replied Minato with a nod of his head.

"I see. The way you had to shoot yourself to summon forth your persona is different, interesting and as morbid as how Sakamoto-kun and I had to ripped off our masks to summon forth our personas. Not only that, the way you easily accept your situation as a persona-user and fighting those shadows makes me assumed and think that you've experience in fighting and dealing with them before, am I right?" asked Akira.

"Right again. You're quite the perceptive one for assuming and thinking about it. However, that's another tale I'll tell you two another day and time and that's enough questions from you two for today." replied Minato as he smiled and nodded approvingly at Akira for assuming and thinking correctly about him before he ended the conversation and resumed eating his second beef bowl.

Both Akira and Ryuji were disappointed at Minato for finishing their conversation before they change the subject about finding and gathering witnesses or evidences to exposed Kamoshida crimes before they fell silent, pay for their foods and drinks (and Minato bought a take-away beef bowl for Makoto) before they left the beef bowl shop, bade farewell to each other before both Akira and Ryuji went home while Minato stay behind with the intention to buy a cake for himself from a cake shop opposite the beef bowl shop.

" _Oh, that's right. I forgot that today's yours and Minako-chan's birthday, Minato._ " said Pharos apologetically to Minato for forgetting his and Minako's birthday.

" _It's fine, Pharos. Now I'm going to…"_ said Minato reassuringly to Pharos and as he's about to went toward and entered the cake shop, a familiar woman's voice talking to him stopped him in his tracks.

"Huh, Arisato-kun? What're you doing here in Central Street?" asked Sae in a confused tone of voice at Minato.

"Hello and nice to see you here too, Niijima-san. As for why and what I'm doing here, I just finish having dinner with friends and about to buy some dessert for myself, of course." replied Minato as he turned, glance and smiled politely at Sae before he noticed, glance and immediately recognized and remembered the fair-skinned, shoulder-length brown-haired, crimson-eyed tall, handsome and alluring-looking guy wearing a long sleeve tan peacoat with black buttons on it over a white shirt with a black and white stripe necktie around his neck, black leather gloves on his hands, long black pants and black loafers on his feet as the same small boy that he used to spend time with back in Inaba.

"Oh. I see." said Sae as she nodded at Minato.

"Excuse me, Sae-san? Who is he?" asked the brown-haired guy curiously to Sae about Minato.

"Don't you remember? This is the boy that I mentioned to you that's staying with me and my sister, Akechi-kun." replied Sae as she slightly scowled at the guy named Akechi.

"Oh! So he's the guy that's staying with you and your sister, huh? It's nice to meet you, I'm…" said Akechi as he remember that Sae did mention Minato to him before he get ready to introduced himself.

"There's no need for that because I already know who you are, Goro Akechi." said Minato, cutting off the rest of Akechi's words.

"You do? Ah, you probably saw one of the TV shows about me, that's why." said Akechi as he smiled and nodded at Minato.

"Actually, that's not how I know you because I already know you a long time ago in Inaba and that I used to call you "Gocchan", remember?" said Minato calmly to Akechi (which make him gasped and widened his eyes in surprise).

"Huh? How do you know about that? Only one person used to call me by that nickname before he moved away… Don't tell me, are you…" said Akechi in surprise at Minato.

"Yeah, it's me, Minato Arisato. It's been a while since we last met in Inaba, Gocchan." said Minato as he smiled at Akechi.

"I don't believe it… It's really you after so long since we last met, Minato-san…" said Akechi softly and then fondly at Minato.

"Huh? You two already know each other a long time ago?" asked Sae with a surprise look on her face at both Minato and Akechi, which make them glance and briefly explain to her about their past before Akechi also remember that today's Minato's birthday and he quickly buy and gave a birthday cake for Minato (and also wished him a happy birthday, which surprises Sae some more since she had no idea about Minato's birthday being today) from the cake shop next to the crepe shop, which Minato accept thankfully from Akechi before they take out their phones to exchange contact info then Minato bade farewell to both Sae and Akechi before he left them and went home.

" _I look forward to seeing and spending time with you next time, Minato-san._ " thought Akechi as he watched Minato walked away from them toward the station before he and Sae turned and went into the same beef bowl shop that Minato, Akira and Ryuji had their dinners a few minutes ago to have their dinner too.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, inside the Niijima apartment home….**

"Welcome back, Minato-kun. Although, may I ask on how you came back a bit late today?" asked Makoto coolly to Minato after she greeted him.

"Hello, Niijima-san. The reason why I came back a bit late is because I was having dinner with some friends before I met and talk with your older sister and an old and dear friend of mine before I decide to walked around the city trying to familiarize myself and remember the entire place and it's shops and restaurants so that I don't get lost the next time. And let me guess, your sister won't be back tonight because of her job, huh?" replied Minato coolly back to her before he asked her another question about Sae.

"Oh, I see. And you're right about her and since you already had your dinner with friends. I guess there's no need for me to cook up some dinner for you to eat now." said Makoto a bit guiltily to him.

"Yes, that's right and also there's no need for you to cook dinner for yourself because I've already bought dinner back for you, Niijima-san. Here you go." said Minato as he walked toward her and put down the purchase beef bowl on the table in front of her.

"Oh, thank you, Minato-kun." said Makoto thankfully to Minato for buying beef bowl dinner back for her.

"No problem. Well, I'm feeling quite tired now so I'll be putting my valued dessert into the fridge before taking a quick bath then head to my room for an early sleep. Good night, Niijima-san." said Minato as he turned and walked toward the bathroom.

"Good night then, Minato-kun. And there's no need for you to keep calling me Niijima-san. You can call me by my first name." Makoto told him.

"Alright then, Makoto-san." said Minato as he glance and nodded at Makoto before he went toward the fridge in the kitchen, open and put the birthday cake that Akechi bought for him inside and closed the fridge then he went into the bathroom for his quick bath, dry himself up and put on his pajamas before he went into his room, lie down on the bed and think back about the time he spend with Goro Akechi when they were younger in Inaba until he fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**The next day…**

Both Minato and Makoto woke up early the next day, cleaned themselves up and put on their uniforms, take their bags and their boxed lunches and bade farewell to Sae before they left the apartment and head to the station to take the train to Shujin. Once the train arrived in Aoyama station, they got off the train, make their way down the street with Akira, a tired-looking black-haired (which is tied up into a ponytail), brown-eyed girl and a fair-skinned, twin-tailed blonde-haired, blue-eyed pretty girl walking behind Akira and they heard the other students talk about the volleyball rally and how injured the members of the volleyball team are before they arrived and entered the school, went into their classroom and sat down at their seats.

"Good morning, Minato-kun." greeted Hanzo as he smiled politely at Minato.

"Yeah, good morning to you too, Hanzo-kun." Minato greeted and smiled politely back to Hanzo before he and Hanzo fell silent when they saw Kanakubo-sensei came into the classroom, greeted and began teaching the students about the history of Greece until the time for the volleyball rally came.

"Okay, students. Now that the volleyball rally has begun, head straight to the gymnasium once you all have changed into your gym outfits, got it?" said Kanakubo-sensei to the students before he turned and left the classroom.

Soon after Kanakubo-sensei left the classroom, Minato, Makoto, Hanzo, Haru and the other students stood up from their seats, left the classroom to head to the boys and girls locker rooms to change into their gym outfits while the students (except Minato, Makoto, Hanzo and Haru) chatted excitedly among themselves about the volleyball rally. After they change into their gym outfits (short sleeves white T-shirts with long sleeves red track jackets (with white arrow patterns on it) over it and long red pants), they then left the locker rooms and head to the gym.

Once Minato, Makoto, Hanzo and Haru and the rest of their classmates entered the gym, they split up and both Makoto and Haru make their way past the cheering students toward the blue folding chairs that's arranged in a straight line in front of the gym's stage and they sat down on two of the chairs and began talking, Hanzo choose to stand and leaned against the wall next to some of the male students while Minato walked to where both Akira and Ryuji are after he noticed them sitting on the floor.

"Hey, you guys." greeted Minato to them both before he sat down next to Ryuji.

"Hey back, Arisato-senpai." greeted Ryuji back to Minato.

"Hi." greeted Akira as well before the 3 of them fell silent and watched with cold looks on their faces as Kamoshida and his team of teachers beat the team of students.

"Still the same. She hasn't change one bit." said Ryuji suddenly and caused both Minato and Akira to glance in confusion at him before they saw that he's staring at the same pretty fair-skinned, twin-tailed blonde-haired, light blue-eyed girl sitting on one of the blue folding chairs.

"Who is she, Sakamoto-kun? Someone you know?" asked Akira curiously at Ryuji about the girl.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I guess you can say that, Kurusu." replied Ryuji as he glance back at both Minato and Akira before he yawned, raised and stretch his arms a little. "Pretty boring just sitting here and watch, isn't it?" said Ryuji.

"Not only it's boring, it's also very painful to watch as Kamoshida and his team of teachers decimate those poor volleyball members." said Minato in an anger tone of voice to Ryuji (who mentally agreed with him) before they fell silent and resumed watching the rally.

After a while of Akira, Ryuji, Minato the rest of the students watched as Kamoshida kept on jumping and smacking the volleyball past the male students who jumped and try to get the ball to no avail, he jumped and smacked the ball another time past the male students and the ball went straight to a short blue-haired student, smacked hard right on his face (which caused some of the female students to gasped and covered their mouths in worry and horror) before he fell sideways on the floor and the ball slowly roll away from him. Kamoshida glance at the fallen student with a brief smug smirk then a frown look on his face before he make his way past the other male students toward the fallen student and got down on one knee near him.

" _Alright, that does it. What he did on purpose to that poor student has gone a little too far now._ " thought Minato in more anger in his mind as he watched Kamoshida approach and got down on one knee near the fallen and injured student.

" _Totally, Minato._ " said Orpheus in agreement with Minato.

"Sorry! Hey, are you alright!?" said Kamoshida worriedly to the student before he turned to glance at the other students. "Someone! Take him to the nurse's office!" Kamoshida told the students.

"I'll do it, Kamoshida-sensei. I'll take him to the nurse office." said Minato as he stood up (while ignoring both Akira and Ryuji staring in confusion at him), walked toward the student and Kamoshida (who nodded to him) and grabbed his arms gently to pulled him up before Minato bring the student out of the gym and toward the nurse office, unaware that he's being watched by Hanzo.

" _How kind of you to help Mishima-kun right after he got injured by that no-good and abusive Kamoshida purposely spiking the ball right at his face, Minato-kun._ " thought Hanzo slightly proudly in his mind as he watched Minato helped bring the student named Mishima out of the gym and toward the nurse office before he grudgingly resumed watching the match with the others.

XXXX

**Inside the nurse office…**

The student winced and hissed in pain as Minato softly pressed the ice wrapped in a cloth against the bruise mark on his nose after they came into the nurse office (while both Akira and Ryuji had already left the gym and walked around the school to find and talk to the injured volleyball members).

"I know it hurts but try to bear it and apply pressure on it for a half-hour until the bruise mark go down, alright? And also, are you alright after being spiked in the face just now?" asked Minato calmly to the student while noticing that there are other bruise marks on his arms and legs besides the one on his nose. " _That no-good abusive teacher…_ " thought Minato angrily in his mind.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. And thanks for helping and bringing me here." replied the student slightly nervously then thankfully to Minato.

"You're welcome…" said Minato before he trailed off due to not knowing the student's name.

"Oh, I'm Yuuki Mishima." said the student named Yuuki Mishima, introducing himself to Minato when he realised that Minato doesn't know his name.

"Nice to meet you, Yuuki Mishima-kun. I'm Minato Arisato." said Minato as he smiled politely and introduced himself to Mishima.

"Minato Arisato? You mean you're the other transfer student that came to school with Niijima-san for the past few days?" said Mishima in a surprise tone of voice to Minato.

"Yes, I am. Why do you say that, Mishima-kun?" said Minato suspiciously at Mishima.

"S-Sorry about that, Arisato-san. It just slipped out." said Mishima apologetically to Minato.

"…Apology accepted, Mishima-kun." said Minato.

" _Excuse me, Minato, have you forgotten about agreeing to helped Akira and Ryuji out to find and talk to those abused students and get them to confess and exposed the fact that Kamoshida's could be abusing them yesterday?_ " said Pharos, reminding Minato about it.

" _No, I haven't forgotten about it, Pharos._ " said Minato coolly to Pharos before he glance at Mishima. "Mishima-kun, there's some questions that I wanted to ask from you." asked Minato.

"Some questions you wanted to ask me, Arisato-san? Sure, what is it?" said Mishima.

"Why and how do you have those bruises on your arms and legs besides the recent one on your nose, Mishima-kun?… Are they also from Kamoshida?" asked Minato bluntly to Mishima (who gasped and widened his eyes in shock at Minato).

"H-How do you… Of course they are…" Mishima started protesting then fell silent when Minato gave him the coldest glare, far worse than his earlier cold glare when he watched what Kamoshida often did to him and to the other volleyball members.

"So I'm right, those do come from Kamoshida too. If so then why didn't you or the others say anything about it to the other teachers or your parents?" said Minato as he crossed his arms and ponder about it before a realization look appear on his face. "Unless… Kamoshida threaten and blackmail you all to not say a word about it or the teachers and your parents knew about it but say and do nothing." added Minato.

"Y-Yeah, it's exactly like what you thought and say out now, Arisato-san. You're quite the perceptive one." said Mishima in a sad and horror tone of voice to Minato before he started explaining more about what Kamoshida did to not just him and the other male students, but also to the female students that joined the volleyball team until he's done and he lowered his head and broke down in silence.

" _Good god, what Mishima-kun just told me is worse than what I initially thought. How could that bastard do such things to both the male and female students that joined the volleyball club and what's more, he's got the protection and backing of the principal and other teachers who only sees him as nothing but a golden goose that make themselves and the image of Shujin Academy look good and pristine! What terrible people they are!_ " thought Minato even more in anger about Kamoshida, the principal and the other teachers now.

" _I agreed with you, Minato. They're such terrible humans indeed._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"A-Arisato-san, please don't let Kamoshida know that I told you all about it, okay?" pleaded Mishima weakly to Minato.

"Don't worry, I won't, Mishima-kun and thank you for telling me about it. Why don't you take a rest now?" said Minato reassuringly to Mishima (who nodded before he listen and lie down on the bed and rest) before he turned, stepped out of the Nurse Office and closed the door quietly behind him, felt his phone vibrated with incoming messages and he pull it out and saw that he received messages from both Akira and Ryuji, telling him that they had almost no luck from questioning the other volleyball members and he reply back to them that he got some info from Mishima and Ryuji reply back saying that they should meet up in the courtyard before Minato turned off and put his phone back into his pocket and head toward the courtyard to meet up with them. As Minato stepped out of the school building and approach the courtyard, he saw the twin-tailed blonde-haired, light blue-eyed girl walked away from the courtyard and she stopped and scowled when she noticed him.

"What are you doing here? Wait a minute… Are you with Sakamoto and the other transfer student too?" said the girl bluntly to Minato.

"Yeah. What about it?" said Minato bluntly back to the girl.

"Since you don't deny that you're with them, let me give you a warning too. Whatever you, Sakamoto and the other transfer student are planning to do to Kamoshida, don't do it because no one's gonna help you guys if you do." said the girl slightly concernly to Minato before she fell silent and walked past him to head back into the school building.

Minato watched the girl leave with a slightly cold look on his face before he entered the small resting area of the courtyard where both Akira and Ryuji are waiting for him.

"Hey, Arisato-san." greeted Akira when he and Ryuji saw Minato.

"Hey, Kurusu-kun." greeted Minato back to Akira.

"Why's she gotta be so aggressive all the time…?" said Ryuji in an annoyed tone of voice to himself.

"Do you know her, Sakamoto-kun?" asked Minato.

"Yeah, I know her because we went to the same middle school." replied Ryuji before he slowly shake his head at Minato. "Anyways, that's not what we're here to talk about. I had no luck on my end. What about you two? Did anything like someone's name turn up?" asked Ryuji.

"I got a name from one of them, Ryuji. Mishima. And he said that Mishima is involved in a "special coaching" of Kamoshida." said Akira.

"And I got more from Mishima-kun himself after I take him to the Nurse Office." said Minato before he proceed to tell them both what Mishima told him and they listen in attentive silence until he's done telling them and Ryuji raised and slammed his fist against the vending machine while Akira clench and unclench his fists, both of them were quite livid about it.

"That goddamn son of a bitch! I can't believe it!" growled Ryuji in anger at Kamoshida.

"Neither can I. Also I can't believe that the principal, the other teachers and parents were also keeping quiet and do nothing about it." said Akira with an angry scowl on his face. "So what are we gonna do now?" asked Akira.

"… I'll try one more time to persuade the other guys to confess about it. That's… all I can do." replied Ryuji almost quietly to both Akira and Minato.

"I see. Then I wish you good luck with them, Sakamoto-kun." said Minato.

"So do I. And I'll see you two tomorrow." said Akira.

"Thanks and yeah, see you guys tomorrow." said Ryuji gratefully to both Akira and Minato.

"Yeah, see you two tomorrow." said Minato as he, Akira and Ryuji bade farewell to each other before the three of them left the courtyard, head back to the locker room to change back to their uniforms before they left the locker room, split up to head back to their own classrooms and Minato pack up his bag, bade farewell to both Hanzo and Haru before he and Makoto left the school and went home.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, inside the Niijima apartment…**

"Welcome back, Makoto and Arisato-kun." greeted Sae to both Minato and Makoto after they came back from school without looking up from her laptop that she's typing on diligently at the table in the kitchen.

"We're back, Sis." Makoto greeted back to her.

"Yeah, Niijima-san." added Minato.

"So, how was school today for you two?" asked Sae.

"Very uneventful most of the time, the only eventful thing that we see today is Kamoshida-sensei and his team of teachers playing volleyball against a team of students." replied Minato as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Not to mention very bad and painful to watch too." said Pharos mentally to Minato.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, Minato-kun. How's Mishima-kun after you take him to the nurse's office?" asked Makoto concernly to Minato.

"He's fine, Makoto-san. He only had a nasty bruise on his nose. And I did try to soothed his bruised nose a little with an ice covered in a cloth." replied Minato coolly to Makoto. "And I also noticed that he had other nasty bruises on his arms and legs too, no thanks to that bastard of a PE teacher before he broke down and pleaded me to keep what he told me a secret from Kamoshida." added Minato coldly in his mind.

"I see. Good to know that you helped him after you take him to the nurse's office, Minato-kun. And I'll be going to my room to study now, so good night, you two." said Makoto as she gave another smile to Minato before she excused herself to both Sae and Minato and head down the hallway toward her room and went in.

Soon after Makoto went into her room, Minato went into the kitchen to find and cooked for himself and Sae-san two plates of omelette rice for dinner. After he's done cooking, bring and put the two plates of omelette rice on the table (which make Sae give him a grateful smile), they ate and finish it and Minato bring and washed the plates before he bade goodnight to Sae and went back to his room to sleep while Sae went back to do her work on the Mental Shutdown and Psychotic Breakdown cases.


	13. Chapter 13

**The next day…**

Both Minato and Makoto woke up early, stepped out of their rooms and greeted each other before they had their baths separately, change into their uniforms and had breakfast with Sae before they bade farewell to her and left the apartment, head to the station to take the train to Aoyama-Itchome. Once they've arrived, got off the train with the other passengers and left the station, they meet up and greeted both Hanzo and Haru walking in front of them among the other students and they went into the school and into their classroom together.

Soon the Math teacher, Usami-sensei came and began teaching Math to the class and Minato, Makoto, Hanzo, Haru and the other students quietly listens to Usami-sensei's lecture before Minato felt his phone vibrating with messages and he discreetly pull his phone out and glance down at it.

RS: _So, I try to find more witnesses and persuade them to exposed what Kamoshida did to them but they refused to talk or do anything about it! Looks like we've no choice but to get it outta Takamaki._

MA: _Takamaki? Oh, you mean that twin-tailed blonde-haired girl that warned us in the small resting area in the courtyard yesterday?_

RS: _Yes, that's right, senpai. Since the witnesses that we found and met are too scared to say or do anything, that's why I figured that it'd be a good idea to talk to someone close to Takamaki who knows them._

AK: _Like who?_

RS: _Shiho Suzui._

MA: _Who's Shiho Suzui?_

RS: _Shiho Suzui is BFF with Takamaki and she's a starter in the team. I tried to talk to that girl during break, but I got nothing from her. That's why we should have Takamaki talk to her._

MA: _Are you sure about that, Sakamoto-kun? What if she doesn't want to._

RS: _We gotta try somehow. If she doesn't want to then maybe you can try talking to her. Also, later we'll meet up in the courtyard's resting area._

MA: _Alright, I'll try if she don't want to._

AK: _Got it, see you two later and good luck, Arisato-senpai._

"Hey, Minato-kun, stop texting on your phone and pay attention before Usami-sensei caught you texting on your phone." whisper Hanzo in disapproval to Minato when he noticed him texting his phone under the desk.

"Oh sorry, Hanzo-kun." whisper Minato apologetically to Hanzo (who nodded and glance back at Usami-sensei) after he's done in reading and sending messages to both Akira and Ryuji on his phone, turned off and discreetly put his phone back into his pocket while Makoto also noticed what Minato just did with the same disapproving look on her face that Hanzo had earlier before she shrugged her shoulders and resumed listening to Usami-sensei's lecture.

XXXX

**Several hours later…**

Minato is on his way to the courtyard to meet up with Akira and Ryuji when he suddenly bumped against someone, stopped and saw that the person he bumped against is a slightly tan-skinned, long ponytail black-haired, brown-eyed girl wearing a light beige-coloured shirt with the sleeves roll up to her elbows, square pattern red and black skirt, a black cloth around her right leg and white shoes and socks on her feet.

"I'm sorry!" said the girl quickly and apologetically to Minato.

"No, it's okay. I'm the one who should say sorry for bumping into you so you don't have to apologize about it." said Minato reassuringly to the girl.

"…Well, if you say so, okay then." said the girl, feeling a bit relief now.

"Are you alright because that bruise above your eye looks terrible." said Minato as he noticed the huge bruise mark above her eye. " _Could she also be another member and victim of that bastard?"_ thought Minato angrily in his mind.

" _It's possible, Minato._ " said Orpheus.

"Huh…? Um, well… it's nothing and I'm alright so you don't have to worry about it." stammered the girl as she quickly glance away and started fidgeting for a few seconds before she calm down and slowly glance back at Minato. "Hm, you don't look familiar. Could you be the other transfer student that came to school with Niijima-senpai?" asked the girl curiously.

"That's right, I am and the name's Minato Arisato. And you are…" replied Minato as he nodded to the girl before he introduced himself and ask for her name.

"I see and it's nice to meet you, Minato Arisato-san. My name is Shiho Suzui." said the girl as she introduced herself to Minato.

"Shiho Suzui, huh? So this girl is the one who's BFF with that Takamaki girl that Sakamoto-kun mention to me and Kurusu-kun in the chat earlier in class." thought Minato to himself.

"Ah, sorry for taking your time. I should be going to practice now… I'll see you around, Arisato-san." said Shiho softly to Minato as she walked past him before he could say or do anything.

Minato watched her leave with a worry and pity look on his face before he opened the door, went to the courtyard's resting area and he greeted Akira and saw Ryuji with an annoy look on his face, his arms crossed and his foot tapping the ground relentlessly.

"Dammit. What the hell…" muttered Ryuji in frustration to himself.

"Let me guess, no luck in convincing them at all, Sakamoto-kun?" said Minato.

"Yeah, you guess correct, Arisato-san." said Akira as he nodded at Minato.

"Is that what it looks like?" replied Ryuji sarcastically at Minato before he clench, raised and slammed his fist against the vending machine next to him as he glance down at the ground. "All of 'em keep sayin' the same shit Mishima was talkin' bout and they're too afraid of Kamoshida to do anything about it!" added Ryuji with a more annoy look on his face.

"At this rate, we'll have no choice but to confront him directly but even so, it'll still be pointless for us to do so." said Minato grimly to them.

"Yeah, you're right." said Akira in solemn agreement with Minato.

"Yeah, we know… But seriously, isn't there something we can do? No way I'm gonna give in like this! Can you 2 think of anything?" demanded Ryuji desperately to them.

"Sorry, I got nothing." said Minato sadly to Ryuji.

"How about we try a sneak attack?" suggested Akira.

"That'd be fine if we could do it without getting' caught, but… if we did, we'd be seriously done for. You got any other ideas?" said Ryuji.

" _Hm… The cops are out because they already don't believe Ryuji and think that he's on drugs when he mentioned the castle to them… Hold on! That's it!_ " thought Akira to himself as he got another idea. "We can go to that other world and punish the king, Ryuji-kun." suggested Akira.

"The king…? You mean that other world's Kamoshida?" said Ryuji in surprise to Akira.

"Hey, that's a good idea, Kurusu-kun. It just might work out." said Minato as he nodded approvingly at Akira's idea.

"I didn't think of that, but… Is there any meaning to-" said Ryuji to them before he got cut off by an unknown yet familiar voice nearby them.

"I finally found you guys…" said the unknown yet familiar voice to Akira, Minato and Ryuji, which make started looking confusingly around the area for the source of the voice and didn't see anyone talking to them and also didn't noticed the blue-eyed, black and white cat wearing a yellow collar around it's neck approaching them.

"… You guys say something?" Ryuji asked Akira and Minato (who shook their heads at him).

"No, we didn't." said Akira.

"Although that voice sounds familiar for some reason…" thought Minato to himself.

"Don't think you guys can get away with not paying me back for helping you." said the cat as it jumped onto the table in front of them (which make both Akira and Ryuji gasped and take a step back in shock while Minato glance in slight shock then calmly at the cat talking to them).

"That voice… Is that you, Morgana!?" said Ryuji incredulously to Morgana (who turned around and glared disapprovingly at him).

"How dare you guys, suddenly just run and leaving me behind the other day!" said Morgana angrily at Akira, Minato and Ryuji.

"The cat's talkin'!?" exclaimed Ryuji even more incredulously at Morgana.

" _Yes, we can see that it's a talking cat and it's clearly Morgana, Sakamoto-kun._ " thought Minato as he rolled his eyes at Ryuji.

"I am NOT a cat!" said Morgana even more angrily at Ryuji. "This is just what happened to me when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding you three." added Morgana sternly to them.

"Is that so? Well then, you did quite good in finding us, Morgana." said Minato quite proudly to Morgana (who gave him a small smile).

"Wait… You came to our world!? Does that mean you've got a phone!?" asked Ryuji as he approach Morgana.

"What a moron. You don't need one when you're at my level." said Morgana coolly to Ryuji as he groomed himself. "Though I did get pretty lost making my escape…" muttered Morgana quietly to himself.

"That aside, why can you talk!? You're a cat!" asked Ryuji.

"How should I know!?" Morgana snapped back at him.

"You two hearin' this too…?" asked Ryuji as he glance at both Akira and Minato.

"Yeah, I did." replied Minato calmly to Ryuji.

"So do I." added Akira as he nodded to Ryuji.

"You guys are having a rough time of this, hm? I heard you mention something about witnesses." said Morgana haughtily to them.

"Oh, shuddup." said Ryuji irritatedly at Morgana.

"Yeah, that's right, we did, Morgana." said Akira.

"You know, I could tell you guys a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida. You were pretty close just a moment ago, Akira." said Morgana as he glance at Akira with an impressed look on his face.

"God, that condencendin' attitude! This thing's gotta be Morgana!" said Ryuji as he crossed his arms and scowled at Morgana.

"You're still doubting me!?" yelled Morgana angrily at Ryuji.

"Ack…! Quiet down!" snapped Ryuji in a panic at Morgana before he, Akira and Minato heard some teachers talking nearby them.

"We really have to be looking for a cat in a busy time like this…?" said one of the teachers to the other one walking then stopping next to him.

"I just heard a cat meowing somewhere near here. Didn't you hear it?" said the other teacher.

"Make sure you check every nook and cranny around the place." said the first teacher as he let out a sigh before the two teachers resumed walking away.

"Meow…?" said Ryuji in confusion about what the two teachers just said. "Does that mean only us three can understand what you're sayin'?" asked Ryuji as he glance back at Morgana.

"Looks like it." replied Morgana with a nod of his head at Ryuji.

"What the hell's goin' on…?" said Ryuji as he scratch his head in frustration again. "Anyways, what you were talkin' about earlier… Is it for real?" Ryuji asked Morgana again.

"You're quite the skeptic for being an idiot." replied Morgana with an exasperated look on his face at Ryuji.

"As much as we want you to tell us more. This place probably isn't the best place…" said Akira.

"That's true, Kurusu." said Ryuji in agreement to Akira before he grabbed and lifted Morgana up by his collar and hand him toward Akira. "Here, stick it in your bag for now, Kurusu! It should be just small enough to fit!"

"Hey, how dare you treat me like-" Morgana began protesting and struggling against Ryuji's grip on his collar.

"Be quiet, you! Let's go, you two!" said Ryuji as he scowled at the struggling Morgana in his hand before he, Akira, Minato and Morgana quickly left the courtyard and went up the stairs toward the school's rooftop.


	14. Chapter 14

**On the rooftop...**

After Akira, Ryuji and Minato arrived on the rooftop and Ryuji closed the door behind him, Akira then crouch down, opened his bag to let Morgana out while Minato take a look around the rooftop and saw some AC machine units, some old tables and chairs stacked one upon another behind Akira and some plants growing quite healthily inside 2 white rectangular boxes behind Ryuji before he went and sat down on one of the chairs then he, Akira and Ryuji glance at Morgana.

"Well, here we are on the rooftop now, Morgana. So let's hear on what you're going to tell us." said Akira.

"Yeah, I know." said Morgana.

"Yeah, you said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, right?" demanded Ryuji as he glance down at Morgana.

"Yep. It has to do with what Akira was talking about earlier. You three will need to attack his castle." replied Morgana as he gestured his head at Akira.

"Attack his castle?" said Minato in confusion to Morgana.

"What do you mean…?" said Ryuji as he scratch his head in confusion as well.

"That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida." Morgana began saying and explaining to them as he sat down on the floor.

" _I see, so that's what he meant by us in needing to attack his castle. He seems quite informative for a cat who's the essense of humanity's hope, like how you warned me about the 12 arcana shadows that came out on the nights of the full moons in my dorm room back in Tatsumi Port Island, Pharos._ " thought Minato to himself and Pharos.

" _Yeah, he is and I know, Minato._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"What'd happen?" asked Ryuji as he crossed his arms.

"A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if the castle were no more…" said Morgana before he trailed off and glance at Akira.

"His distorted desires would disappear with it." said Akira.

"Precisely! You sure pick up things fast!" said Morgana proudly at Akira.

"Yeah, not bad, Kurusu-kun." said Minato proudly at Akira as well.

"T-Thanks, Morgana, Arisato-senpai." said Akira as he scratch the back of his head in slight embarrassment a little.

"For real!? H-He's gonna turn good!?" sputtered Ryuji in surprise before he trailed off into silence.

"But still, will this method really get back at him?" asked Akira warily to Morgana.

"Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart. However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he'll confess them himself!" replied Morgana as he grinned widely at them.

"You for real!? That's possible!?" said Ryuji excitedly to Morgana (who nodded to him).

"And since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget what we did there as well. Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won't even be a trace of our involvement." said Morgana smugly to them.

" _I see. Sounds both good and bad at the same time._ " thought Minato with a solemn look on his face.

"That's amazing! You are one incredible cat!" said Ryuji as he smiled joyfully at Morgana.

"True, except for the cat part!" snapped Morgana in annoyance at Ryuji.

"So? How do we get rid of the Palace!?" asked Ryuji excitedly to Morgana.

"Wow, someone sure is very excited about it." thought Akira as he glance in slight exasperation at Ryuji.

"By stealing the Treasure held within." replied Morgana.

"Stealing the Treasure…?" said Ryuji in confusion at Morgana.

"What do you mean by that, Morgana?" asked Akira, confused at Morgana as well.

"I'll tell you 3 more once you 3 agree to go ahead with this. It's my most valuable, secret plan, after all. If you 3 wanna help me out, I'll gladly teach you three. So, what's your call?" said Morgana coolly to Akira, Ryuji and Minato (who glance at each other).

"Our luck's runnin' dry lookin' for witnesses. Guess we have no choice but to go along…" said Ryuji to both Akira and Minato before he trailed off into silence.

"Yeah, you're right." said Akira as he nodded at Ryuji.

"In that case, what are we waiting here for? Let's do it then." said Minato as he nodded at them as well.

"…Good." said Morgana as he smiled approvingly at them for agreeing to go along with his plan before he remember something. "Oh, right. There's one more thing I should tell you three."

"One more thing, like what?" asked Akira.

"If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well. But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to eat, sleep, fall in love-those sorts of things." replied Morgana.

"What're you gettin' at?" asked Ryuji confusingly to Morgana.

"Stop interrupting and listen to what he's telling and explaining to us, Sakamoto-kun!" said Minato in an annoy tone of voice at Ryuji (who scowled at him).

"If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they'd be no different than someone who had shut down entirely. They may even die if they're not given the proper care. So…" replied Morgana before he trailed off and glance away from them.

"They might die…!?" said Ryuji in a shock tone of voice to Morgana.

" _If we do this to him, he might end up like those mental shutdown victims that I saw happening on TV?_ " thought Akira grimly to himself.

" _What he just said sounds similar to those Apathy Syndrome victims back in Port Island years ago, huh?_ " thought Minato coolly in his mind.

" _Yeah, that's true, Minato._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"Will you listen to everything I have to say first?" said Morgana irritatedly at Ryuji for cutting off his words.

"Would their deaths be our fault…?" asked Ryuji quietly to himself.

"Aren't you determined enough to face those kinds of risks?" said Morgana in a no-nonsense tone of voice to Ryuji.

"Hey… What do you two think?" asked Ryuji as he glance at Akira and Minato.

"We'll have to risk it, Sakamoto-kun. For the sake of those students who suffered because of him." replied Minato bluntly to Ryuji.

"Are you serious?" said Ryuji in disbelief at Minato.

"Well, I'm not doing it, Arisato-senpai. Kamoshida may be an asshole and a scum to us and the other students but I won't do it on the off chance that he might die." said Akira as he shake his head.

"Is that so, Kurusu-kun?" said Minato coolly at Akira.

"Sheesh… I come all this way, and this is what I get. It's not like anyone will ever find out." said Morgana in exasperation to them.

"That's not the point!" said Ryuji as he glared down at Morgana. "If we just go around secretly doing whatever we want, we'd be no better than that effin' Kamoshida."

"Isn't that the only option for you three?" retorted Morgana as he rolled his eyes at them before he stood up, turned around to walked toward and stopped in front of the partially opened door. "…I'll come back later or tomorrow. Make sure you three have made your decisions by then." Morgana added to them before he walked through the door and left them.

After Morgana left them, Akira, Ryuji and Minato briefly glance at each other before both Akira and Ryuji sigh in unison while Minato stay silent.

"Arisato-senpai, why the eff would you go and say that? What if he really will die if we do it? Won't it be our fault?" demanded Ryuji.

"Like I said just now, it's a risk. Or are you telling me that you don't care about those students that suffered because of him?" said Minato coldly at Ryuji.

"That's not what I mean! It's just that… Man, we're gettin' all worked up for nothing… Dammit!" snapped Ryuji in exasperation to himself.

"Calm down, Sakamoto-kun and Arisato-senpai, why don't you think it over until you're sure and don't regret it. Alright?" said Akira calmly to them both.

"…Fine, Kurusu-kun. I guess I'll give it another thought." sighed Minato.

"Good. And what are you going to do now, Sakamoto-kun?" asked Akira.

"I guess I will try and see if I can figure out another way…" replied Ryuji grimly to him.

"Well, now that we're done talking, let's go home." said Minato to both Akira and Ryuji before he stood up from the chair, turned and leave the rooftop with them both.

After they leave the rooftop, Minato bade farewell to Akira and Ryuji, went back to his class, packed up his bag and bade farewell to Hanzo and Haru before he leave the school and head down the street toward the station. As Minato make his way toward the subway station, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and he pull it out to see and read the messages on it while he kept walking.

RS: _Hey, you two. I just heard something that got my attention._

MA: _Like what?_

AK: _What is it that you just heard, Sakamoto-kun?_

RS: _About that Suzui girl… Looks like rumors are going around about her and Kamoshida. If they're true, it's no wonder I couldn't get her to talk. Still, something about that doesn't seem right._

MA: _Yeah, I think you're right about it._

AK: _So you two think so too, huh, Arisato-senpai, Sakamoto-kun?_

RS: _It's just impossible. I've known Takamaki and Suzui since middle school. There's no way that Kamoshida's their type. So I wonder where those rumors come from._

MA: _About where those rumors come from and whether they're true or not, we'll find out and know the truth hopefully soon._

AK: _Yeah, you're right, Arisato-senpai._

RS: _Well, whatever. I'll try asking around some more._

MA: _Good luck to you then, Sakamoto-kun._

As Minato texted on his phone while still walking toward the station, he heard and noticed a few seconds too late the sound of a bicycle swiftly approaching him and the familiar and worry voice of Akechi telling him to hurry and move nearby him before Minato look up and he soon saw Akechi quickly bring his bicycle to a sudden screeching stop in front of Minato but the force of the momentum caused Akechi to fell out of his bike, crash against Minato before they fell with each other on the ground (while Minato's phone fell out of his grip) with Akechi lying on top of Minato, their faces close enough for their noses to touch.

"Oh… I'm so sorry for crashing against you! Are you alright, Minato-san?" said Goro (whose face is quite red with embarrassment for falling from his bike and crashing against Minato of all people) concernly to Minato as he quickly got off him, stood up and hold out his left gloved hand at Minato.

"Yeah, so far so good. What about you, are you alright, Gocchan?" said Minato as he raised and put his left hand on Goro's hand but once he do so, he saw the same glowing blue butterfly showing up and flying in a circle above Goro's head (while Goro helped pull him up from the ground). " _Huh? Why the heck is the same blue butterfly that I saw flying above Kurusu-kun and the black knight helmet guy also showed up and flying above Gocchan's head?_ " thought Minato in confusion in his mind about the blue butterfly that he see appearing and flying above Goro's head.

" _That's because this young guy that you knew and call Gocchan when you 2 were kids and the black knight helmet guy that we see with the conductor in the other world a few days ago are one and the same person. Furthermore, I sensed the same strong and suppressed feeling of cold hatred for all adults inside him so remember what I say to you, be careful and don't drop your guard around him once you try to help him out, Minato._ " said Messiah sadly and concernly to Minato.

" _Say what!? He and the black knight helmet guy are the same person!? No, it can't be…_ " thought Minato in disbelief and shock at Messiah.

" _Unfortunately, it is, Minato._ " said Messiah more sadly to Minato (who fell silent).

"I'm glad to hear that and I'm fine too, thanks for asking, Minato-san." said Goro as he slowly smiled in relief at Minato being alright and concern for him (and oblivious to the inner conversation that Minato had with Messiah about him) before he walked past Minato toward his bicycle and picked it up from the ground while Minato also picked his phone up from the ground as well.

" _Good thing this phone of mine is sturdy enough so that no cracks would appear on it._ " thought Minato after he's done checking and putting his phone back into his pants pocket before he and Goro heard his stomach started growling.

"Oh my, sounds like someone getting hungry." chuckled Goro with an amused look on his face at Minato.

"Y-Yeah, looks like it." said Minato as he scratch his head in embarrassment a little.

"In that case, how about we head to the diner in Central Street? I've heard that their steaks are good, along with their drinks and parfaits. Consider it my treat to make up for crashing against you earlier plus I've some questions that I didn't get to ask you on your birthday, Minato-san." said Goro.

"Hm… Very well then, lead the way, Gocchan." said Minato as he nodded at Goro before both he and Goro make their way toward the diner in the Central Street in Shibuya, stepped in and sat down in a booth before a waitress came to take their orders (a cup of peach milk tea and a plate of maple syrup pancakes from Goro, an extra large plate of Nostalgic Steak and a jumbo-sized glass of chocolate, mango and strawberry parfait from Minato) and left once the waitress got their orders.

"I see that your appetite is still as big as ever in that slim body of yours, Minato-san." said Goro in more amusement at Minato.

"And I can see that you're still a lover and fan of pancakes as usual, Gocchan." Minato counter back at Goro with a smirk on his face. "While we waited for our foods and drinks to arrive, let your questioning begin." added Minato to Goro.

"Alright. Will you tell me why is it that you didn't call or sent me any more letters on 3 May 2010 and why do you still look like you're 17, 18 years old, Minato-san?" asked Goro curiously and a bit coldly at Minato.

"… Well, that's because on that day, I had an accident that put me into a deep coma and I had to stay in a hospital for treatment until I managed to wake up from my coma and that's why I still look like I'm 17, 18 years old even though I'm already 22, 23 years old this year and I'm sorry for didn't call or sent you any more letters, Gocchan." replied Minato calmly and apologetically to Goro (which make him gasp and widened his eyes in shock at Minato).

" _I suppose the story of you had an accident and fell into a deep coma is better than you giving up your life to be the Great Seal to sealed Nyx away from Erebus and humanity, Minato-san._ " said Messiah in reluctant agreement with Minato.

"O-Oh. I had no idea that you… And here I assumed and think that you given up and had enough of me like those foster parents who adopted me only for easy money did before we met, Minato-san." said Goro in a guilty tone of voice to Minato.

"Of course I wouldn't do that to you because I'm not like them, Gocchan. Still, I can't blamed you for thinking and assuming that about me. So, is there anymore questions that you wanted to ask me about?" asked Minato as he shrugged his shoulders.

"No, that's all." replied Goro as he shake his head at Minato before the same waitress holding a tray with their foods and drinks on it approach their booth, put their foods and drinks down on the table in front of them before the waitress turned and leave and both Goro and Minato proceed to eat and drink their foods and drinks until they finish them all.

"You're right, the steak and parfait in this diner is good, Gocchan." said Minato as he nodded and smiled at Goro.

"See? I knew that you'd like it, Minato-san." said Goro as he smiled back at Minato before he take out his phone to check the time. "Oh! It's getting late. We should be leaving now." added Goro slightly concernly at Minato (who take out and check the time on his phone and saw that it's indeed late).

"Yeah, let's go." said Minato as he nodded at Goro before he felt the familiar feeling of time stop around him and he heard the same female voice talking to him again.

_To you who has bear,_

_And endured the weight of the Universe,_

_We of the Justice Arcana,_

_Give you our blessing, Messiah._

After the female voice fell silent and Minato establish the Justice sociall ink with Goro, they stood up from their booth and Goro helped pay for their dinner before they left the diner and both Minato and Goro take out their phones to exchange caller IDs before they bade farewell to each other then they split up and went home.

**XXXX**

**A few minutes later, inside the Niijima apartment…..**

"I'm back." said Minato after he entered the apartment.

"Welcome back, Minato-san. You're back quite late today." asked Makoto as she glance at Minato.

"That's because I spend time with friends, Makoto-san." replied Minato as he glance at Makoto.

"Oh, really? Who are these friends of yours then, Minato-san?" asked Makoto again.

"Akira Kurusu and Ryuji Sakamoto." replied Minato.

"What? The transfer student with a criminal record and the former track team member?" said Makoto with a surprise then concern look on her face. "Minato-san, I think you should stop seeing them and be friends with them." added Makoto concernly at Minato.

"Huh? Why and what do you mean by that?" said Minato as he frown in confusion at Makoto.

"Because they're both trouble and their bad influences will drag you down if you keep on being with them, as what the rumors said." said Makoto concernly to Minato.

"Seriously? That's what the rumors said about them both? What a bunch of false crap and I don't believe those false rumors about them while you actually believe them?" said Minato in disbelief at Makoto.

"T-That's, well… I'm just telling and concern for you, Minato-kun. I hope you don't see and talk to them again." said Makoto even more concernly to Minato.

"Sorry, no promises, Makoto-san." said Minato slightly coldly to Makoto (which make her winced and feel disappointed at him) before he turned and went into his room.

" _Why didn't you tell her that you also spend time with Goro Akechi, Minato?_ " said Orpheus.

" _I refused and that's enough from you, Orpheus._ " said Minato sternly to Orpheus (who sighed and fell silent) as he change his uniform into his pajamas, got onto his bed and fell asleep.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, inside a spacious and expensive-looking office room inside a mansion on the island…**

"This is my order to those of you who are free, managed to come and is sitting here in my office now. You all are to accompany Aigis to Tokyo, meet up with Akihiko and Naoto there before you all search for Death and sealed it or destroy it if possible. Understand, Iori, Amada, Takeba, Arisato, Aragaki and Koromaru?" said Mitsuru firmly to the 5 people and a dog sitting in their chairs in front of her.

"Leave it to us, Mitsuru-san." said a fair-skinned, short light brown-haired, brown-eyed pretty woman named Takeba wearing a sleeveless pink and white knee-length dress with a short sleeve light blue bolero jacket over it and brown boots on her feet calmly to Mitsuru.

"Yep! You can count on us to rip it a new one!" said a slightly tan-skinned, short buzzcut dark-haired, grey-eyed man named Iori wearing a white T-shirt with a long sleeve black jacket over it, long blue jeans and grey shoes on his feet enthusiastically to Mitsuru (which make Takeba rolled her eyes at him).

"We'll do our best to find, sealed or destroy it as per your order, Mitsuru-san." said a fair-skinned, short brown-haired, brown-eyed boy named Amada wearing a short sleeve black T-shirt, long grey trousers and white shoes on his feet calmly to Mitsuru as well while an albino, red-eyed Shiba Inu named Koromaru barked at her and both Minako and Shinjiro nodded at her too.

"Thank you for your cooperations and for helping out, all of you. Now dismissed and go!" ordered Mitsuru firmly to them and they all stood up and nodded to her before they turned and left the office, turned left and head toward the place where the Kirijo private plane is so that they can head to Tokyo.


	15. Chapter 15

**The next day…**

As both Minato and Makoto stepped into Shujin Academy after they woke up, do their usual morning routine and left their apartment, Minato went toward his classroom (while Makoto went up to the second floor to the Student Council room) and he once again bumped into Suzui, the long ponytail black-haired, brown-eyed girl that he met yesterday and he quickly grabbed hold of her before she could fall on the floor but as soon as he did, Suzui flinch and quickly shoved Minato away from her.

"Don't touch me!" yell Suzui in fear and despair at Minato.

"Woah, easy there, Suzui-san. What's wrong with you, suddenly shoving me away and yelling at me like that?" said Minato in confusion at Suzui before he noticed that today she's looking very pale and tired, had huge black rings under her eyes and her whole body is shaking while some students who walked past began talking about them. " _Something is clearly very wrong with her today. She looks very tired, pale and shaking in despair or something else. Did that bastard abused her even worse than usual?_ " thought Minato worriedly in his mind about Suzui's condition then angrily about Kamoshida.

" _He must have, or else she wouldn't look this tired, pale and shaking in fear and despair and she wouldn't yell at you, Minato._ " said Pharos worriedly to Minato.

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Arisato-san. I…I'm sorry for suddenly shoving and yelling at you." said Suzui sadly and apologetically to Minato.

"That's okay, Suzui-san. Are you alright because you're shaking and you look more tired and pale today. Did something bad happened to you?" asked Minato concernly to Suzui (who's face turned even paler, falter and look ready to crumble for a moment before it went away quickly).

"…No, nothing bad happened to me, really. I'm fine, thanks for asking and for your concern, Arisato-san." replied Suzui reassuringly to Minato.

"Really, are you sure, Suzui-san?" insisted Minato even more concernly to Suzui.

"Y-Yes, I'm sure, Arisato-san. If you'll excuse me, I feel like getting some fresh air so I'll be going now." said Suzui even more reassuringly to Minato before she turned and went up the stairs.

" _Pharos, something's really not right with her and I've a really bad feeling that something bad is going to happen soon._ " said Minato worriedly in his mind to Pharos as he watched Suzui went up the stairs with a worry look on his face.

" _Yeah, you might be right, Minato. Be on alert for anything the whole day._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

" _Of course, Pharos._ " said Minato before he turned and went into his class, met and greeted both Hanzo and Haru (who smiled and greeted back to him) and sat down at his seat.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, during Inui-sensei's teaching…**

"Hey, is something wrong, Minato-kun? You look very grim and distracted today." whisper Hanzo when he noticed the grim and distracted look on Minato's face.

"Huh? Oh, well… Just had a bad feeling that something's gonna happen, Hanzo-kun." Minato whisper back to Hanzo.

"Bad feeling? About what?" asked Hanzo concernly to Minato.

"Well…" said Minato before he fell silent when he saw Haru suddenly stand up from her seat as she look out the windows to her right with a shock and horror look on her face.

"Haru, what is it?" asked Hanzo when he turned and saw Haru standing up from her seat with a more concern and confused look on his face before both he and Minato stood up from their seats and approach her.

"Excuse me, Okumura-kun, Arisato-kun, get back in your seats now!" said Inui-sensei in disapproval at both Minato and Hanzo for suddenly standing up from their seats.

"Hanzo, look up there. There's a girl standing up there near the ledge, she look like she's ready to jump!" replied Haru in a frighten tone of voice to Hanzo (which make him and Minato look up and they widened their eyes in shock and horror too when they saw it).

"No! Suzui-san!" thought Minato in his mind before he quickly turned and run out of the classroom, run down a hallway and up the stairs past the other students toward the door that leads to the roof, slammed open the door and he saw Suzui standing near the ledge with her back to him. "Suzui-san, stop! Don't do this, please!" said Minato worriedly to Suzui.

"Stay back, Arisato-san!" said Suzui in a despair tone of voice to Minato without looking at him.

" _Minato, don't try to agitate her, try to speak calmly to her so that she'll not jump._ " suggested Pharos concernly to Minato (who mentally agreed with Pharos's suggestion).

" _I agreed with Thanatos, Minato._ " said Orpheus in agreement with Pharos to Minato as well.

"Listen to me, step away from the edge and come slowly over to me. It's dangerous there, Suzui-san." said Minato calmly to Suzui as he slowly walked toward her.

"Just stay back, Arisato-san. I-I… can't take it anymore. B-Because he forcefully took it from me." said Suzui, still not looking at Minato as tears glisten and fell from her eyes down her face.

"What do you mean by he forcefully took it from you?" asked Minato softly to Suzui as he finally reached Suzui and slowly hold out his hands toward her. " _Please don't let it be what I think it is that he's done to her._ " thought Minato in grim anger in his mind.

" _From the way she's acting now, he must have…_ " said Pharos sadly to Minato.

"No, be quiet, Pharos! I refused to believe it and you're not helping right now!" snapped Minato, cutting off Pharos's words.

"Kamoshida-sensei… H-He told Mishima-kun to find and tell me that he wants to see me in the PE faculty's office so I went there to see him, naively thinking that he wanted to talk to me about volleyball. B-But as soon as I entered the office, h-he… locked the door… a-and he proceed to h-hit me… then t-touch… and r-raped me!" screamed Suzui as she hugged herself and she started shaking in more shame, horror and despair. Minato gasped and his face turned pale in horror at what he just heard from Suzui before he cautiously and softly wrapped his arms around the shaking and sobbing poor girl to at least bring her away from the ledge and offering some consoling to her but after he do so, it make her think back about when and how Kamoshida touch her and she immediately started thrashing in fear.

" _See, Minato. I was right, he did do that to her. That goddamn filthy human…_ " snarled Pharos angrily to Minato.

"Suzui-san, calm down, please! I'm trying to help you so let me help you! Let's leave the rooftop and told the authorities what he did to you so that he'll be put behind bars and will not do that to you again! Please stop thrashing!" said Minato as he try to stop her from thrashing around in his arms and take her away from the ledge (while ignoring Pharos angry words at Kamoshida in his mind) but she wouldn't listen or cooperate with him.

"N-No! Let me go! I can't… Don't make me remember that he…!" screamed Suzui even more fearfully at Minato as her thrashing got more stronger.

"Minato-kun! Suzui-san!" yell Hanzo's worry voice from the opened door behind them both before he run through the opened door and he froze and saw the scene with a horror look on his face (which make Minato glance in surprise at him).

The moment when Minato got distracted and glance at Hanzo, Suzui managed to break free from his arms and jump off the ledge but Minato quickly crouch down and leaned over the edge to grabbed hold of her right wrist to prevent her from falling.

"Hold on, Suzui-san! I'm going to help bring you up now!" yell Minato as he try to pull her back up.

"No! Just let me go, let me fall and die, Arisato-senpai!" yell Suzui as she struggle against his firm grip on her wrist.

"No, I won't let you go, Suzui-san! You doing this isn't right at all! Think about your parents and your friends! They'll be very upset and heartbroken if they knew that you're doing this!" yell Minato.

"That's where you're wrong, Arisato-senpai! They knew and they don't care or do anything about it! So just let me go already!" yell Suzui even more in despair to Minato before she raised her other hand to lash out and scratch the flesh of his hand holding her wrist, causing deep bleeding wounds to appear on his hand.

Minato grunted in pain from her scratching his hand deeply and he accidentally let go of her hand, causing Suzui to fall and landed with a loud crack on the courtyard ground below.

"NO! Suzui-san!" yell Minato as he look down from the ledge and saw Suzui lying limp and brokenly on the courtyard ground before students and teachers came out of the building toward the courtyard to surround and watched the limp and broken form of Suzui instead of helping her. " _No… not again. This is just like back when my teammates and I failed to saved Shinjiro-senpai and Mitsuru's father from Takaya, the leader of Strega and bastard Ikutsuki, the chairman…_ " thought Minato in horror in his mind before he felt Hanzo grabbed and pull him back away from the ledge and away from the rooftop.


	16. Chapter 16

**Meanwhile, in Class-D on the second floor…**

"So, I assume all of you know about the separation of powers? There are three branches in our government. The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive, and the Supreme Court is judiciary. This division of power provide checks and balances, which ensures no one branch becomes unstoppable." said Ushimaru-sensei to the students.

As Akira was listening quietly and attentively to Ushimaru-sensei lecture about politicians and government, a black and white head of a cat suddenly popped out from inside Akira's desk, caused him to jumped and raised his arms a little and had a freak out look on his face when he saw Morgana suddenly popped his head out.

"Have you made up your mind, Joker?" whispered Morgana quietly to Akira (who's calm down and lowered his arms and glared down at Morgana for startling him before he quickly turned his attention back to Ushimaru-sensei's lecture). "No matter how much thinking you or the others do, there's only one option. You three would be better off just listening to me." Morgana added quietly to him.

"How did you get in there, Morgana?" whisper Akira in annoyance at Morgana.

"Hm? Did I just hear a cat just now?" said Ushimaru-sensei as he and the students started looking around the classroom for Morgana after they heard him meowing while Akira tensed a little in his seat and Morgana quickly hide himself back into Akira's desk.

"M-Meow!" said Morgana.

"Seriously, Morgana?" whisper Akira sarcastically at Morgana.

"What else am I suppose to say besides meowing?" whisper Morgana sarcastically back at Akira.

"Could that rumoured cat be somewhere nearby…? Settle down! We're in the middle of an important lecture!" snapped Ushimaru-sensei quite loudly and fiercely to wherever Morgana's meowing was coming from before he turned to write something on the blackboard.

After Ushimaru-sensei turned to the blackboard, Akira felt his phone vibrating and he discreetly pull it out to see and read the messages under his desk and near Morgana.

RS: _It's no use… I can't think of any other way…_

AK: _What are you doing messaging us during class time? Concentrate on class. You'll be in more big trouble if the teacher in your class caught you messaging us._

RS: _I can't deal with that shit right now, you guys! I mean, what're we gonna do about Kamoshida? Do we just gotta go along with what that cat say? Urgh, that damn furball…_

"If he only knew I'm reading this too…" whisper Morgana slightly sad and hurtfully to Akira.

"There, there, Morgana…" said Akira in a comforting tone of voice to Morgana as he turned off and quickly put his phone back into his pocket before he heard the sound of a chair skidding quite loudly to his far right and he glance and saw that a male student had stood up from his seat and is staring out the hallway window now.

"Hey… What's that…!?" asked the male student in surprise.

"Enough! This is a classroom!" scolded Ushimaru-sensei as he glared at the male student who stood up from his seat.

"Wait…! She's going to jump…!" said the female student sitting behind the male student as she stood up as well (which caused the other students to begin chatting fervently).

"Suzui…?" said Mishima as he stood up with a shock look on his face.

"Shiho…?" said Ann with a worry look on her face as she stood up as well before she quickly run out of the classroom toward the hallway windows and look up at the school's roof.

Akira watched as Ann stood up and run out of the classroom before he stood up and run out of the classroom after her, stand behind Ann and look out the hallway windows up at the roof with her (and the other students from their class and other classrooms) and both Akira and Ann saw Shiho standing at the edge of the roof with a despair look on her face.

"Shiho… Don't do it, please…" whisper Ann in a pleading tone of voice as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in a prayer manner.

" _What is she thinking!? And why the hell isn't anyone going up there to stop her?_ " thought Akira as he watched with a grim look on his face.

"Hey, isn't that the other transfer student standing behind her!?"

"What is he doing up there with her too?"

"Maybe he's trying to prevent her from jumping?"

" _What? Did they just say that Arisato-senpai is up there with her?_ " thought Akira as he try to look clearly and saw that Minato is indeed up there with Suzui, trying to talk and prevent her from jumping.

"Shiho… Please help her…" whisper Ann worriedly for Suzui then hopefully for Minato.

Akira watched as Suzui scream at Minato to stay away but he shook his head and talk to her some more before she started crying and screaming some more while hugging her shaking form. Akira then saw Minato's face turned pale with horror before he softly wrapped his arms around Suzui, which make her started thrashing around, causing Minato to try to calm her down to no avail before she break free from him, started to fall and he quickly crouch down, leaned over and grabbed hold of her hand before she yell at him, start struggling then raised her other hand to scratch Minato's hand holding her hand hard and make him accidentally let go of her and she fall and landed with a loud crack on the courtyard ground before Minato got taken away by another person on the roof with him.

" _Oh my god! How could she do that to Arisato-senpai when he's trying to help her!? Also, what happened to her that make her wanna jump in the first place!?_ " thought Akira in shock and horror in his mind at what he just saw happening to Shiho and Minato trying to help her to no avail outside while the students and Ushimaru-sensei yelling around him and Ann.

"No… Why…? Shiho…!" said Ann as she widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hands in shock and horror before she turned, pushed and run past Akira and the other students toward the courtyard.

"Takamaki-san, wait!" Akira yell out to Ann before he and Ryuji (who's just arrived after he run out of his classroom) run after Ann.

Once Akira, Ryuji and Ann arrived and pushed their way past the students (who's holding up their phones to take pictures and recording the grim scene before them) into the courtyard, they saw that an ambulance had already arrived and 2 paramedics were carefully lifting and putting Shiho down on a stretcher.

"Class is still in session!" a teacher yell out to the students to no avail.

"Shiho…!" said Ann in sorrow and pain to herself as she glance at Shiho.

"What the hell's wrong with these people…!?" said Ryuji as he glance around at the students with their phones out for taking pictures and video recordings with an angry look on his face.

"That's just how they are, Ryuji-kun. They're like onlookers at a car crash. As long as it doesn't happened to them and they don't care at all." said Akira in grim anger to Ryuji.

"We need someone to go with her… Are there any teachers around?" asked one of the paramedics concernly to the crowd of students and teachers.

"I-I'm not in charge of her class though…" said one of the teachers as he look away.

"We should leave this to Principal Kobayakawa…" said another teacher hesitantly.

"I'll go!" insisted Ann when she saw with a frustrated look on her face that none of the teachers volunteer to go with Shiho.

"Please hurry!" the paramedic urged Ann before he moved aside for her to approach and kneel down next to Shiho.

"Shiho… Why…?" whisper Ann sorrowfully at Shiho.

"A-Ann…?" said Shiho as she weakly opened her eyes and glance sadly at Ann. "I'm sorry. I-I can't take this… anymore… Also, can you tell… Arisato-san that… I'm very sorry for…. rejecting his help… and hurt him, please?" added Shiho more sadly and guiltily to Ann.

"Of course I will tell him, Shiho. But still, why would you…?" said Ann as she lowered her head closer to Shiho, listen to what she tell her before she suddenly lifted her head in shock after she heard what Shiho just told her. "…Huh? …Kamoshida!?"

"Ngh…" groaned Shiho as she closed her eyes and fell unconscious.

"No… Shiho!?" said Ann in despair to Shiho's unconscious form before she stood up, let the paramedics lifted and put the stretcher holding Shiho into the ambulance before Ann quickly got into the ambulance with her while the paramedics went to the front of the ambulance and drove out of the school.

"Volleyball team…" said Ryuji to himself and to Akira before they both noticed Mishima started freaking out and he turned and run away past the students out of the courtyard. "That guy… Hey, wasn't Mishima acting weird?" asked Ryuji with a suspicious look on his face at Mishima.

"Yeah, he does. He must know something about what happened to Shiho and why she suddenly want to killed herself and rejected Arisato-senpai's help." replied Akira. "Let's go after and corner him to make him talk then, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira firmly to Ryuji.

"Yeah. Come on." said Ryuji as he nodded to Akira before they turned and run to pursuit Mishima. After a few minutes of searching the school for him, they caught and corner him inside an empty lockers room (while Morgana lie down at the top of the lockers and look down at them in silence).

"Ow! That hurts!" said Mishima as he winced and rubbed his sore hands.

"Why'd you run off like that? Huh!?" said Ryuji as he scowled at Mishima while Akira glance at him in silence.

"I didn't run…" muttered Mishima as he lowered his head to look down on the floor.

"She rejected Arisato-senpai's help and jumped and tried to kill herself!" yell Ryuji as he glared at Mishima and banged his fist against the lockers.

"…L-Leave me alone…" whimpered Mishima as he cowered away from Ryuji.

"That's enough, Sakamoto-kun! You are scaring him so calm down!" snapped Akira at Ryuji.

"But…!" Ryuji began protesting as he glance at Akira.

"Stop protesting and calm down, alright? Let me talk to him instead." said Akira firmly to Ryuji and he fell silent before he glance at Mishima. "Listen to me, Mishima-kun. If you know something about what happened and why Suzui rejected Arisato-senpai's help and wanted to kill herself, please tell us." asked Akira softly to Mishima.

"He's right! We ain't trying to get you busted. We won't say you talk either!" said Ryuji softly yet firmly to Mishima.

"Suzui… She was called out by Kamoshida-sensei!" confessed Mishima despairingly to them as he grabbed his head with his two hands.

"Wait, what!?" said Ryuji as he and Akira gasped and widened their eyes in surprise at Mishima.

"I was called by him a number of times too… to the PE room." Mishima resumed saying defeatedly to them. "It wasn't just me or Suzui either. He'd nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them."

"So the physical punishment thing was for real…" said Ryuji as he clench his fists angrily.

"But yesterday, he called Suzui out of the blue. She didn't make any mistakes or anything… Kamoshida-sensei seemed really irritated that day, so it must have been… worse than usual." said Mishima more despairingly to them before he trailed off into silence.

" _Worse than usual? Oh my god, don't tell me that he…_ " thought Akira in horror than anger at Kamoshida in his mind.

"He didn't…! That son of a bitch…!" said Ryuji as he realised what Mishima meant before he turned around, let out an angry yell then run away from them out of the locker room.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in the infirmary room…**

Minato winced in pain a little when Hanzo pressed and rubbed the cloth soaked with antiseptic on the scratch wounds on his right wrist. "That really stings, Hanzo-kun." complain Minato.

"Then why don't you keep quiet and stay still so that it won't sting, Minato-kun?" said Hanzo sternly to Minato as he kept on pressing and rubbing the cloth on Minato's injured wrist until he's done then he put the cloth away, take some white bandage cloth and wrapped and tied it around his wrist. "There, all done now." added Hanzo reassuringly to Minato.

"Thanks, Hanzo-kun… By the way, why didn't you help us both on the roof just now? If you had help us then Suzui-san wouldn't have…" said Minato in a disappointed tone of voice at Hanzo.

"…You're right, I could have, should have help but instead I… just froze, watch and do nothing to help you and Suzui-san. And I'm sorry for that, Minato-kun." said Hanzo sadly and guiltily to Minato.

"… It's fine and come on, Hanzo-kun. We need to report and explain what happened to the teachers right now!" said Minato firmly to Hanzo.

"… Yeah, Minato-kun. Luckily I know of one teacher who actually cares and will do something to help out." said Hanzo as he nodded at Minato.

" _That's good, at least, isn't it, Minato?_ " said Pharos in slight relief to Minato.

" _Yeah, at least, Pharos._ " said Minato in agreement with Pharos. "And who is this teacher that cares and will help us?" asked Minato.

"Our homeroom teacher, Kanakubo-sensei. Let's go, Minato-kun." replied Hanzo before both he and Minato quickly left the infirmary and head toward the faculty office to tell Kanakubo-sensei about it.


	17. Chapter 17

Akira, Mishima and Morgana watched Ryuji run out of the locker room in a furious manner with surprise looks on their faces before they glance worriedly at each other then they run out of the room after him (while Morgana jumped down from the locker and landed safely on Akira's shoulder). Akira (with Morgana hanging on his shoulder) and Mishima run after Ryuji up to the second floor, saw him run down the hallway, angrily pushed open the PE faculty office door and run into the room and they quickly run into the opened room as well.

"…Huh?" said Kamoshida as he glance in confusion at Akira (while Morgana jumped off Akira's shoulder and landed on the floor), Mishima and Ryuji at his desk after they came into the room.

"You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?" yell Ryuji angrily at Kamoshida.

"What are you talking about?" said Kamoshida as he briefly raised and waved his right arm and glance away from them.

"Don't you play dumb with me!" snapped Ryuji as he angrily kicked a nearby chair away from him.

"That is enough!" yell Kamoshida as he glared at Ryuji.

"What you did… wasn't coaching…!" said Mishima.

"What did you say?" said Kamoshida ominously to Mishima as Akira, Morgana and Ryuji turned to glance at him.

"You… You ordered me to call Suzui here… I can only imagine what you did to her…!" said Mishima nervously to Kamoshida as he grabbed his head with his hands in despair.

"You're going on and on about things you have no proof of… Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?" sneered Kamoshida as he stood up from his chair and crossed his arms.

"That's not what this is about…!" said Mishima as he lowered his hands and glared defiantly at Kamoshida.

"Even if it is exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking… what can you do?" said Kamoshida tauntingly to them. "We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?" added Kamoshida smugly to them (which shocked them).

"You… How could you be so callous about the life of a student? The life of Suzui-san, Takamaki-san's friend?" snapped Akira as he glared at Kamoshida.

"There's no chance of her getting better, I hear… The poor girl. If only Arisato hold on to her tighter…" said Kamoshida in a mock-lament tone of voice to them as he raised and placed his hand dramatically on his forehead while ignoring Akira.

"No… That can't be…" said Mishima as he shook his head in despair.

"You goddamn…!" said Ryuji as his body started to shake in anger.

"This again? Does this mean we need to have yet another case of "self-defense"?" said Kamoshida as he scowled at Ryuji.

"You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!" growled Ryuji as he glared hatefully at Kamoshida before he raised his fist in preparation to punch Kamoshida. But before he could do so, Akira rushed forward and grabbed hold of his arm with his hands to stop him. "Why're you stoppin' me, Kurusu…!?" demanded Ryuji in surprise at Akira.

"Calm down, Sakamoto-kun. Don't let yourself be provoke this easily by him." replied Akira calmly to Ryuji.

"But still!" said Ryuji as he yanked his arm out of his hands and glared back at Kamoshida.

"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise, mister criminal record boy." said Kamoshida as he glance at Akira with a feigned surprise look on his face before he crossed his arms and smiled smugly at them. "There's no need for any of you to hold back. Why not attack me?… Oh, you can't. Hahaha! But of course you can't!" said Kamoshida smugly to them before he turned and sat down in his chair. "Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I'm reporting you scums at the next board meeting." added Kamoshida coldly to them (which shock them again).

"Wha-" said Ryuji.

"You can't make a decision like that…!" protested Mishima firmly to Kamoshida.

"Who would seriously consider what scums like you say? You threatened me too, Mishima, so you're just as responsible." scoffed Kamoshida as he glance coldly at Mishima.

"Huh…?" said Mishima, confused.

"To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you're a victim, but you leaked his criminal record, didn't you? It's all over the internet, correct? What a terrible thing you did to him." said Kamoshida as he glance in mock-pity at Akira.

"Mishima…?" said Ryuji as he, Akira and Morgana turned to glance at Mishima with disbelief looks on their faces.

"Why would you do that, Mishima-kun?" said Akira in disappointment at Mishima.

"He told me to do it. I had no choice… I'm sorry." said Mishima as he got on his hands and knees in forgiveness to Akira (who sighed sadly at Mishima while Kamoshida laughed wickedly at them).

"Now, are we finished here? You scums are all expelled! You're done for; your futures are mine to take, now get out of my sight." said Kamoshida even more smugly to them.

"I can't believe this asshole's getting' away with this…!" yell Ryuji angrily.

"Don't worry, Sakamoto-kun. He'll eat his words and pay very dearly for his heinous actions soon enough." said Akira calmly to Ryuji.

"Huh…? Oh right, we have that!" said Ryuji as he realised what Akira meant.

"Huh? Have you all lost your minds? I don't understand what garbages like you all are thinking, but go ahead and try. All you can do is wait for your disposal though…" said Kamoshida coldly to them.

"Is that so? Well, not on my watch, Kamoshida-sensei!" snapped a male voice suddenly and coldly from behind Akira, Morgana, Ryuji and Mishima (who stood up from the floor) and they all turned and saw with surprise looks on their faces that it's Kanakubo-sensei with both Minato and Hanzo standing behind him with cold looks on their faces.

"You! What the hell are you doing here, Kanakubo-sensei?" snapped Kamoshida in anger at Kanakubo-sensei showing up in his office before he glance at both Minato and Hanzo and a smirk appear on his face. "Oh, I get it. Those two scums standing behind you must have told you something, huh? But it doesn't matter because…"

"Silence! I didn't come here with these two boys just to hear more of your bullshit excuses coming out of your mouth, Kamoshida-sensei." said Kanakubo-sensei, cutting off Kamoshida's words. "Yes, they did came to see and tell me about the reason why Suzui-san decided to commit suicide and what she told them and I believe them both, unlike the other spineless, incompetent teachers, the principal and a callous bastard like you who don't care about the life of a student but their own well-beings. And if you think of reporting and expelling these boys for doing the right thing in the next board meeting, I won't let you do so!" added Kanakubo-sensei even more coldly to Kamoshida-sensei.

"Oh really? You won't let me do so, Kanakubo? And how are you going to stop me from reporting these scums, huh? You're just as incompetent and useless as the others." sneered Kamoshida-sensei mockingly to Kanakubo-sensei.

"How, you ask? As if I'd ever tell you on how I'm going to stop someone like you so you can snatch it away from me to save yourself, you sorry excuse of a bastard teacher." sneered Kanakubo-sensei back at Kamoshida-sensei, which completely pissed him off before he raised and swung his fist toward Kanakubo-sensei in preparation to knock him out but before he could punch him, Kanakubo-sensei swiftly raised his left hand and caught Kamoshida's fist firmly in his hand.

"You better let go of my hand now or I'll make sure to get you fired from this school. Like how I get that coach fired too because I own this school." said Kamoshida-sensei threateningly to Kanakubo-sensei as he struggle to pull his hand away from Kanakubo-sensei's tight grip to no avail.

"Yeah right. As if a former olympic medalist like you can get me fired from this school like the poor coach. So what and too bad because I'm part of the Fujiwara family and clan even though my surname is different. And what's that about you owning this school, Kamoshida-sensei? It's thanks to the principal hiring you to Shujin to boost it's image while turning a blind eye to what you did to the poor students and their parents. It's ridiculously pathetic, laughable and deluded of you to think so." said Kanakubo-sensei coldly and boredly to Kamoshida-sensei (who fell silent and scowled at Kanakubo-sensei when he heard what Kanakubo-sensei just told him) before he turned and glance around at Akira and the other boys. "Come on, boys. We're leaving now." said Kanakubo-sensei calmly to Akira and the other boys and they nodded to him before they all turned and left the room.

XXXX

**In the courtyard…**

"The way how Kanakubo-sensei just tear down that bastard in that PE room is great, you guys! So effin' glad to see and know that at least there's one decent teacher in this school that wants to help instead of standing by and do nothing." said Ryuji with an awed look on his face about Kanakubo-sensei before it got replaced with an angry look as he banged his fist against the vending machine. "But even so, I'm still pissed at that bastard and I wanna go to that world and beat the shit outta him!" added Ryuji angrily to Akira, Minato and Morgana after they split up with both Kanakubo-sensei and Hanzo.

"… We're not beating him up. We're simply stealing his distorted desire." said Morgana coolly to Ryuji.

"Yes, we know, Morgana. We won't beat him up, we'll simply tear him apart." said Akira calmly to Morgana (which make both him and Ryuji glance at him in surprise and fear while Minato had a blank look on his face). "What? You guys don't like it?" added Akira in surprise at them.

"Not say we don't like it, Akira. Just that…" said Morgana.

"After what he just did to you, Mishima-kun, Suzui-san, Takamaki-san and others, I'd would say it's a fitting eye for an eye for a callous bastard like him." replied Akira coldly to them, cutting off Morgana's words.

"He's right in a way, you guys. I agreed with him, that bastard deserves it." said Minato in agreement with Akira.

" _I agreed with him too, Minato._ " said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"Very well then, can I assume that all 3 of you have made up your minds about this-about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?" said Morgana.

"…I have." said Ryuji as he turned to glance at Morgana. "Someone almost died and Arisato got hurt because of him. I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!"

"And what about you two?" asked Morgana to both Akira and Minato.

"I'm definitely in." replied Akira.

"So do I, Morgana." said Minato.

"…Then it's settled." said Morgana.

"By the way, is getting rid of a Palace hard…? You've tried it before, right?" asked Ryuji.

"…When did I ever say that?" replied Morgana innocently to Ryuji.

"You've never done it before?" asked Akira.

"Nope." replied Morgana truthfully to Akira.

" _Seriously?_ " thought Minato as he shake his head.

"WHAT!? Were you just pretendin' to know!?" yell Ryuji in disbelief to Morgana (which make him, Akira and Minato quickly shushed and glared at him slightly for raising his voice).

"Is it true that you guys are getting expelled and Kanakubo-sensei's gonna get fired?" asked Ann suddenly from behind them (which make them gasped in surprise before they turned to glance at her). "Everyone's talking about it…"

"That asshole's at it again, spreading false rumors…!" said Ryuji as he briefly look away in irritation then look back at Ann. "So you came all this way to tell us that?" added Ryuji.

"If you all are going to deal with Kamoshida… let me in on it too." said Ann firmly to them (which surprises them again). "I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho!"

"Takamaki-san…" said Akira sadly to Ann.

"Listen, what happened to Suzui-san isn't your fault, Takamaki-san. You didn't know that he would do such a cruel thing to her and it's best that you go home now." said Minato calmly to Ann.

"Arisato-senpai's right, Ann. This has nothing to do with you… Don't butt your head into this…" said Ryuji gruffly to her.

"But it does! Shiho's my-" argued Ann.

"We know she is but 're sorry, Ann. But it's better if you stay out of this." said Akira firmly to Ann, cutting off her words.

"No, I will not!" argued Ann even more to them.

"We said don't get in our way!" snapped Ryuji harshly to Ann (which make her flinch before she turned and run away).

"… That was harsh." said Morgana.

"Yeah, you shouldn't spoke so harshly to her like that, Ryuji-kun." said Minato in a disappointed tone of voice to Ryuji.

"We can't take her somewhere like that with us…" said Ryuji guiltily to Minato.

"I hope that she doesn't torment herself over this. When it comes down to it, women don't hesitate." said Morgana sadly to them.

"Yeah, we know, Morgana." said Akira as he nodded to Morgana.

"We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let's go already!" said Ryuji determinedly to Akira, Morgana and Minato before they left the school and head back into the alley in front of the school.

"The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you 3 are ready." Morgana told them.

"Huh? Phantom Thieves?" asked Ryuji as he glance in confusion at Morgana.

"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure-that is what we become!" replied Morgana happily to Ryuji.

"I see, not bad at all." said Akira as he smirk at Morgana.

"I agreed." said Minato with a nod of his head (same goes for Pharos inside him).

"That sounds kinda cool!" said Ryuji exuberantly to Morgana. "So we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name, and… castle? Then we end up in bizarro world." added Ryuji before he pull out his phone. "…How the hell all this work? Someone make it?" asked Ryuji.

"We don't know. But does it really matter, Ryuji-kun?" replied Akira as he shake his head.

"That's kinda creepy, but eh, it seems useful enough. We'll show that effin' Kamoshida!" said Ryuji as he rolled and stretch his arms a little.

"Let's go!" said Morgana confidently as he, Ryuji and Minato watched Akira pull out his phone and pressed the Metaverse Navigator. But unbeknownst to them, Ann is watching them from her hiding spot behind the corner.

"They really are going to do something… They're doing something on their phones? A name… School…? Huh…!?" said Ann before she widened her eyes and gasped in disbelief and shock when she saw her surroundings started to turned purple, warped and change into a different place.


	18. Chapter 18

**In front of Kamoshida's Palace…**

After Akira, Ryuji, Morgana and Minato entered the world of Kamoshida with the use of the Metaverse Navigator on their phones (and their uniforms promptly change to their alternate outfits), they then look around the area for any signs of enemies, saw none and they turned to glance at each other.

"All right! Time to bust on through!" said Ryuji excitedly to both Akira and Morgana, who nodded in unison to him while Minato glance in silence at him.

"What is this!?" yell Ann in shock suddenly from nearby them (which make them flinch and gasped in surprise) before they turned to glance at Ann just as she approach and stopped in front of them.

"T-Takamaki!?" sputtered Ryuji.

"What the? How did she get in here?" said Akira in a disbelief tone of voice.

" _Oh man. Could it be that she's standing nearby us without us noticing her before we uses the app to went into this other realm and she got dragged in somehow?_ " thought Minato with a shake of his head.

" _You thought correctly, Minato._ " said Pharos.

"Those voices… Sakamoto!? Kurusu!? And… are you Arisato-senpai!?" said Ann as she glance even more in shock at them and their outfits.

"Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?" demanded Ryuji.

"How should I know!?" Ann snapped back at him before she look around at their surroundings. "What's going on? Hey, where are we…!? Isn't this the school!?" asked Ann in disbelief to them (while Morgana stared at her with a dreamy look on his face which both Akira and Minato noticed with unimpressed looks on their faces).

"Hey, earth to Morgana. Snap out of it now." said Akira as he raised his hand then snap his fingers in front of Morgana to snap him out of it and he did.

"O-Oh, sorry about that, Akira." said Morgana apologetically to Akira before he glance at him, Ryuji and Minato. "I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of the app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason that it'll pull anyone nearby into it." explained Morgana.

"For real…?" said Ryuji.

"Looks like it." said Akira.

" _He's saying the same words that crossed my mind a few seconds ago._ " thought Minato.

"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?" asked Ann as she glance at them again after she's done in looking around the area.

"That is none of your concern, Takamaki-san. You need to leave now. This place is dangerous." Akira warned Ann softly.

"No, I refused!" snapped Ann firmly to Akira.

"Be quiet. The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." said Morgana sternly to Ann.

"No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat…!" babbled Ann as she flinch and had a freak-out look on her face as she glance at Morgana.

"Monster…?" said Morgana as he gaped and widened his eyes in shock at Ann for calling him a monster cat.

"Pfft." snorted Minato with an amused look on his face when he heard what Ann just call Morgana.

" _Poor Morgana. Being call a talking monster cat by a pretty girl like her._ " said Pharos in amusement as well.

"You three better explain to me what's going on! I won't leave until you three do!" demanded Ann as she glared at them (which make them sighed in unison before they glance at each other, at a brief loss on what to do with Ann).

"What are we going to do about her now, Kurusu, Morgana and Arisato-san? Should we tell her?" asked Ryuji.

"No, we shouldn't, Sakamoto-kun. There's no need for her to know even though she's being dragged into this world because of us. One or two of us need to force her out somehow, whether she like it or not." replied Akira firmly to Ryuji.

"Fine, Kurusu. I guess senpai and I'll force her out. But… how're we supposed to do that? And ideas, Morgana?" asked Ryuji confusingly to Morgana.

"Just take her back the way we came in. That's how it worked last time, right?" replied Morgana as he shrugged his shoulders to Ryuji.

"O-Oh yeah." said Ryuji in surprise to Morgana before he glance at Minato. "Can you lend me a hand, senpai?" asked Ryuji.

"Hold on, you two. I feel a little bad about forcing Takamaki-san out. Also, now that she's somehow been dragged into this world because of us, don't you two think that she at least deserves to know about it? She has just as much reason to hate Kamoshida as we do." Minato pointed out to them.

"You may be right and she do deserves to know about it but even so, we still can't, Arisato-san." said Akira as he shake his head at Minato. "Now please, you two better hurry up and get her out of here. Or else we won't be able to deal with Kamoshida." added Akira firmly to them both and they nodded to him before they glance at Ann.

"What're you-" Ann began saying to them.

"We're sorry, Takamaki-san." said Minato apologetically to Ann.

"We'll explain after everything's over, Takamaki!" said Ryuji, cutting off Ann's words before he and Minato approach and grabbed hold of her arms and they dragged her (which make her instantly protesting and struggling to free her arms from their grips to no avail) toward the other end of the drawbridge, pushed her out of the Metaverse world before they turned around and walked back to Akira and Morgana.

"We better be careful from now on when we use that app…" said Ryuji.

"You should have check the tools you used! Why do I-the one who was just watching- know more about it than you two!?" snapped Morgana as he jumped and glared at Akira, Ryuji and Minato.

"Sorry about that, Morgana. We'll be careful next time." said Minato apologetically to Morgana.

"Sh-Shuddup!" said Ryuji as he look away in embarrassment.

"All right, all of you. Calm down now." said Akira calmly as he raised his hands to placated them. "Now that Takamaki-san's gone, we can get back to focusing on the Palace."

"Yeah, we know. Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off… We gotta deal with this fast!" said Ryuji.

"That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right?" asked Morgana as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, that's right." replied Akira.

"Lady Ann… a very pretty girl…" muttered Morgana dreamily under his breath before he shake his head to snap out of it again and they turned to glance and staked out near the drawbridge of the castle.

"The Shadows have noticed us. You three better brace yourselves, got it?" warned Morgana firmly to them and they nodded to him before he glance at Akira. "We're counting on you, Joker!" added Morgana to Akira as he jumped a little.

"Joker? That a nickname?" asked Ryuji as he, Minato and Akira frowned in confusion at Morgana.

"Uh, I don't think what he called Kurusu-kun is a nickname, Sakamoto-kun." said Minato.

"Don't refer to it in such a lame way. It's a code name. What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I'm not down for that!" complain Morgana as he shake his head in slight anger at Ryuji. "And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace… It's just a precaution." added Morgana.

"I see. That does sound safe and you've made your point, Morgana." said Akira as he nodded in understanding and agreement to Morgana.

"Why, thank you, A… I mean, Joker." Morgana corrected himself as he smiled at him.

"So, why's he Joker?" asked Ryuji.

"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength." replied Morgana.

"Joker, huh? Not bad at all." said Akira with a confident smirk on his face.

"It's settled then!" said Morgana before he glance at Ryuji and Minato. "Next up is you then Minato, Ryuji. You'll be… Let's see… You'll be… "Thug"." suggested Morgana to Ryuji as he crossed his arms.

"Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose it myself!" snapped Ryuji as he scowled at Morgana. "I want my codename to follow the mask that I'm wearing on my face. I kinda like it so let's name me after my mask." suggested Ryuji as he glance at Joker and Minato.

"…Very well, then. You'll be "Skull"." sighed Morgana while both Joker and Minato nodded in silence.

"Ooh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull!" said Skull excitedly to himself and to them before they glance at Minato.

"Now it's your turn. Your codename will be… uh… "White"." suggested Morgana.

"Nope, a little too simple. Next please." said Minato as he shake his head at Morgana's suggestion.

"How about "Emo" since he has the emo look down?" said Skull, which make Minato glared at him and he quickly look away.

"How about "Messiah" instead, Arisato-senpai?" suggested Joker.

" _Oh, what a fitting codename for you, isn't it?_ " said Orpheus teasingly at Minato.

" _No because that's my name, Orpheus._ " said Messiah in disapproval at Orpheus.

"Nope, not that one either. I'll think of one myself." sighed Minato before he started thinking of a codename that suits him.

" _Minato, I just thought of one that might suit you since you don't like the codenames that they suggested to you._ " said Pharos.

" _Really? Let's hear it then, Pharos._ " said Minato.

" _Alright then. How does "Seraph" sound? Do you like it?_ " asked Pharos.

" _Seraph", huh? It's better than the codenames that they suggested to me, I like it, Pharos._ " said Minato thankfully to Pharos.

" _You're welcome, Minato. I mean, Seraph._ " said Pharos.

"Well, Arisato-senpai? Have you thought of one for yourself?" asked Joker slightly impatiently to Minato.

"Yes, I have, Joker. My codename shall be "Seraph"." replied Minato (now Seraph).

"Seraph, huh? Sounds good." said Joker as he, Skull and Morgana nodded to him.

"So now that he got his codename. What do we do about this one's codename?" asked Skull as he, Joker and Seraph glance at Morgana.

"I don't know. What do you think?" Joker asked back to Skull.

"Hm… How about "Mona"?" suggested Skull.

"Well, if Joker thinks it's easier to call me that, then I'll go with it." said Morgana (now Mona) firmly to Skull as he glance at Joker. "All right. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull, Seraph and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those codenames from now on!" added Mona firmly to them and they nodded in agreement to him before they turned and head up the drawbridge toward the opened ventilation shaft, got on and climbed through and into the castle and landed back into the room filled with bookshelves and tables.

As Joker, Skull, Seraph and Mona cautiously opened the door and quietly stepped out into a hallway, they suddenly heard several voices chanting out loud in unison to their right and they turned, quietly walked forward and hide behind doors and peek out at the large foyer room.

"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!" chanted the voices of a group of knights standing at the bottom of the stairs to Shadow Kamoshida (who's standing on the steps of the staircase and staring down at them with not-Ann standing closely next to him).

"W-What the hell!?" sputtered Skull with a surprise look on his face.

"Be quiet, Skull! Looks like Kamoshida is about to say something to them." hissed Joker quietly at Skull.

"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow those trash to barged into and ransack my castle! Strengthen the securities! Kill them on sight! I'll reward whoever bring me their heads back." Shadow Kamoshida told and commander them.

"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!" yell the group of knights in unison again to Shadow Kamoshida.

"Hey, Mona. Can't we just charge forward, beat the crap out of those knights and him and call it a day?" said Skull quietly as he glance at Mona.

"Are you an idiot? That would be suicidal of you if you do so. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time." snapped Mona quietly as he (and both Joker and Seraph) glared at Skull. "Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins?"

"Mona's right, Skull. We'll make him pay for what he did to us, Suzui-san, Takamaki-san, Mishima-kun and the members of the volleyball team right after we find where his Treasure is and steal it." said Joker coldly to Skull.

"They're both right, Skull. So calm down." said Seraph.

"Fiiiine. So, where is it?" said Skull as he rolled his eyes a little.

"It has to be somewhere within the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further in while he's out here!" Mona told them before they quietly stood up, turned and walked away from the opened doorway toward the other closed doorway opposite the one that they just came out from and as Joker opened it, they saw another knight standing in the room with his back to them and they quickly retreat and hide behind the hallway wall.

"Dammit, there's a guard over here too… Whaddya wanna do, Joker? Should we kick it's ass?" said Skull with a scowl look on his face before he asked Joker on what to do.

"Let's do it." said Joker as his two daggers manifest in his hands.

"Hold on…" interjected Mona to them before they could fight the knight. "Hmmm… this might be a good opportunity to teach you another new skill… All right, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?" added Mona firmly to Joker.

"Yeah, I'm ready, Mona!" said Joker as he stood up, charge toward and jumped onto the knight, grabbed and ripped off his helmet before he quickly jumped off as the knight burst into red and black liquid and turned into a small flying fairy.

" _Pixie, one of the minor personas that I used to have._ " thought Minato as he saw the knight turned into Pixie.

After the knight change into a fairy, Mona then proceed to teach and explain to Joker, Skull and Seraph about another use for Hold Up skill other than defeating enemies which is able to communicate with the Shadows and told them to hand over money or items after they're knocked down. After Mona's done in explaining to them, Joker then pull out his handgun, aim and fire a bullet at the fairy and knocked her down before he, Skull and Mona rushed forward, surround and pointed their weapons and guns at the fairy while Seraph stay back and watched in silence (which confuses both Joker and Mona when they noticed).

"Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about…?" said the fairy as she glance at them in surprise. "It can't get worse than this… What're you going to do to me!?"

"We won't do anything to you if you gave us some items." demanded Joker coldly to the fairy.

"Huh? So you'll let me live if I just give you something?" said the fairy hopefully to Joker.

"Well, something along those lines… Now let it be money or items. Just cough it up!" demanded Mona threateningly to the fairy.

"B-But, this happened so suddenly… I actually don't have anything on me… I-I usually do though, you know!?" stammered the fairy fearfully to them.

"W-Wait, what? Oh… This isn't how I was planning this to go." said Mona with a bewilder look on his face. "Uh… Anyway, it can't be help if that's the case. Time for you to go to hell then." added Mona to the fairy.

"W-Wait!" protested the fairy frantically to Mona.

"Sorry. But we're in a hurry." said Joker apologetically to the fairy as he raised his dagger at her.

"No, wait up! Can't we work something out? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?" pleaded the fairy.

"Sorry, you choose the wrong enemy today." said Joker as he shake his head at the fairy.

"Wow… you sure sound and act confident. But I'm the same way. In any other situation, we'd get along really well. Whoa, I feel different! Something's happening!" said the fairy coolly then confusingly to Joker.

"What the…!? What's going on!?" exclaimed Mona as he, Joker, Skull and Seraph widened their eyes in surprise at the fairy.

"… Oh yeah, I remember now! I don't belong just to King Kamoshida… I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's soul… My real name… is "Pixie"!" proclaimed the fairy named Pixie as she flew up from the floor. "I'm Pixie! From now on, I'll live on inside your heart!" added Pixie before a bright blue light glowed out and enveloped her entire body before she transform into a perfect white copy of Joker's mask, flew toward Joker and let itself be absorbed into his mask.

" _This feeling… It feels like I've just gained a new power of Persona._ " thought Joker in surprise then smugly to himself.

" _Hm, not bad at all in accepting and gaining a new persona, Kurusu-kun._ " thought Seraph as he glance and smiled slightly proudly at Joker.

"What was that just now…? What happened…!?" asked Mona in surprise at Joker.

"Wh-What the hell was that about? The enemy glowed, change then got sucked into Joker's mask!" asked Skull as he turned to glance at Mona with a shock look on his face.

"I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting it either…" replied Mona in surprise to Skull and Seraph and none of them noticed another knight coming down the hallway and saw them in the room.

"Intruders!? Halt!" said the knight threateningly to them as he run into the room toward them and they quickly turned to glance at the knight.

"Crap, another one noticed us!" said Skull in surprise to Joker, Seraph and Mona before the knight

"Gee, you think?" said Joker sarcastically to Skull (which make him scowled at Joker) as the knight shake.

As Joker, Skull and Mona got into their battle stances while Seraph stay back again, Joker felt something like a new possibility stemming up from within him after their previous short battle with Pixie. Joker then summoned forth Pixie, uses Zio skill on one of the horned horses and knocked it down to the floor.

"I-Is that the Shadow from earlier?" asked Mona as he glance in surprise to Joker. "Don't tell me… Did you take in the Shadow's appearance and powers as a Persona?"

"Yep. You got that right, Mona." said Seraph as he nodded at Mona.

"Looks like it, Mona." replied Joker as he uses Zio skill again on the other horned horse, knock it down as well before he and the others surround, raised and pointed their weapons and guns at the 2 horned horses.

"Ow, ow, ow… Whaddya think yer doin'!?" groaned one of the horned horses at Joker.

"Lend me your power." commanded Joker.

"So that's yer move? … Then I guess I'll talk first. I'll decide if I'm gonna help you after." said the horned horse as it tilted it's head at Joker. "So… Yer a student, right? Is it OK fer you ta just be hangin' around here like this? Hey. Why aren't you at school?" asked the horned horse.

"I actually finished school." replied Joker.

" _Huh? Why is Joker talking to that persona?_ " thought Seraph in confusion in his mind.

" _He's negotiating with it, Seraph. He's asking the persona to join and fight with us or we'll have to fight it if it doesn't want to._ " said Pharos.

" _I see. If only that happen to me and my teammates back when we fought those Shadows in Tartarus tower._ " said Seraph.

"So does that mean yer a workin' adult? Wearin' a mask like that? What kinda freaky job do you do?" asked the horned horse.

"That's not for you to know." replied Joker slightly coldly to the horned horse.

"Ugh, that hurts. Hey, if you got any medicine, lend me some. They're supposed ta work miracles, right…?" said the horned horse pleadingly to Joker.

"Sorry, I don't have any and you're starting to get on my nerves." said Joker warningly to the horned horse.

"Heh, look at you, acting all commander and cold. Reminds me of when-Oh!" said the horned horse to Joker before it had a brief surprise look on it's face and it stood up from the floor. "I remember who I am now. I am Bicorn and from now on, my power is yours to use." added the shadow named Bicorn to Joker before it change into a mask and absorbed into Joker's mask like the previous one.

" _Yet another one came and went into my mask. First it's Pixie, now it's Bicorn?_ " thought Joker to himself.

"Holy, another one… Does that mean you can wield multiple Personas?" asked Mona as he glance up at Joker with surprise and awed look on his face.

"H-Hey, Mona! What was that about!? What did Joker do?" demanded Skull as he glance in confusion at Mona.

"He sealed the enemy's appearance and power into his mask, and made them his new Personas… I've never seen anyone do that before… didn't even know it was possible!" replied Mona still in amazement at what Joker just did twice to the Shadows.

"Isn't that's because he's the unique Wild Card user and had an advantage in a way because he's able to wield multiple Personas other than his main one, Arsene. Right, Mona?" Seraph said to Mona (who nodded to him) as he glance at Joker with a proud look on his face too.

"Does this sound good for you guys?" asked Joker.

"Of course it is! Only one heart exists per person, so normally one person can only have one Persona! But what you did… is incredible! That ability of yours will give us a huge advantage in battle!" replied Mona as he smiled widely at Joker. "All right, try to do that even more if the opportunities arises! You two better help out too, Seraph, Skull! Especially you since you stay back and didn't help us out twice!" added Mona to them both before he scowled at Seraph.

"Very well, Mona." said Seraph.

"Hell yeah! We'll hold every last one of 'em up!" said Skull.

"Hehe, I like you even more now, Joker! I really do have someone special on my hands!" said Mona excitedly and a little dreamily at Joker.

"Yeah, sure, Mona. Thanks for the compliment." said Joker as he gave a small smile to him before they turned to their right to opened another door, went down a hallway and past another sealed hallway (that had a long red carpet, empty knight armors standing on both sides of the hallway and leading toward a door), went into an armoury room filled with weapons, fought more shadows and Joker gained 2 new Personas at the same time (Pyro Jack and Mandrake), saw and opened a treasure chest lying on the table and pull out two Topaz and Onyx jewels, opened another door, left the armoury and went down another hallway and they stopped in front of a door that looks different and wavered a little and Mona explain to Joker, Skull and Seraph that it's a safe room before they went into the room.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, outside Shujin Academy…**

After Kanakubo-sensei's done in packing up his stuffs, left the faculty room and as he stepped out of Shujin Academy, he saw with disbelief and shock looks on his face as Ann suddenly appear out of thin air inside the alleyway opposite Shujin Academy before she landed on her butt on the ground in front of him.

"Ow, that hurts…" groaned Ann as she stood up from the ground and rubbed her butt a little.

"What the? Are you alright and how and why did you suddenly showed up out of thin air in front of me, Takamaki-san?" asked Kanakubo-sensei concernly then surprisingly at Ann.

"Huh, Kanakubo-sensei? What are you…" said Ann as she glance in surprise at Kanakubo-sensei.

"That doesn't matter right now and answer my question, Takamaki-san." demanded Kanakubo-sensei firmly at Ann.

"How? It's because…" said Ann before a thought crossed her mind and she quickly take out her phone to check something and saw an unknown red and black app on it. "It's probably because of this weird app that I saw on Kurusu's phone and which is now on my phone somehow, sensei." said Ann as she showed him the app on her phone.

"Huh? That's some creepy-looking app and it looks like there's some words below it, "Kamoshida", "Pervert" and "Castle"?" said Kanakubo-sensei with a confused look on his face before he gasped and widened his eyes in dusbelief and shock as he saw the area around him and Ann warped, turned purple and transport him and Ann back into the castle.

"What the!? Where are we now!?" said Kanakubo-sensei as he swiftly handed the phone back to Ann before he look around the castle place with more disbelief and shock look on his face.

"This is… We're back in that place from earlier, sensei…!" said Ann to Kanakubo-sensei she walked away from him up to the castle and cautiously look around the place for her classmates and didn't any of them anywhere before she glance down at her phone with a confused look on her face. "…What's up with this app? Sensei just said the words Sakamoto said, and we ended up-" added Ann even more in confusion to herself.

"Princess!?" said the surprise voice of a knight suddenly to Ann.

"Huh!?" said Ann as she glance up in surprise and saw 3 knights standing a few feet in front of her and Kanakubo-sensei.

"What the? Who are you 3 and why are you 3 dressed up as knights?" asked Kanakubo-sensei in confusion at the 3 knights.

"Princess!" yell the knights as they run towards her while ignoring Kanakubo-sensei's question to them.

"Huh!?" gasped Ann with a freak out look on her face.

"Get behind me, Takamaki-san!" said Kanakubo-sensei as he quickly grab hold and pull Ann behind him in a protective manner.


	19. Chapter 19

**Back in the safe room…**

"Aren't there even more Shadows than before? Just gettin' this far's been a real pain in the ass!" said Skull to Joker, Mona and Seraph before he let out a tired groan and shake his head in exasperation a little.

"It's all because you guys and that teacher named Kanakubo provoked Kamoshida, you know." Mona chided them before he glance solemnly at the closed door of the safe room. "Still… he seems to be awfully on guard…"

"If that's the case, then we just have to be more alert and careful as much as we can." said Joker as he sat down on one of the chairs near the other chairs and table in the middle of the safe room.

"Yeah, we know, Joker." said Seraph in agreement with Joker.

"Anyways, how're we suppose to steal that Treasure thing?" asked Skull as he glance at Mona.

"Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route." replied Mona warningly to him.

"A what…?" said Skull as he crossed his arms in confusion at what Mona just told him.

"An infiltration route, Skull." said Joker, repeating the final 3 words of what Mona just said to Skull.

"Yep, a path to the Treasure's location. Since we've four members, I'm sure that we can accomplish this!" said Mona quite happily and confidently to Joker, Skull and Seraph.

"Hey, you told us that you don't have your memories and all, but somehow you still know that kinda stuff?" asked Skull in a slightly perplexed tone of voice to Mona before he glance at both Joker and Seraph. "Do you two think that this thing got amnesia?" Skull asked them.

"It might be possible, Skull." replied Seraph.

"I believe in Mona, Skull, Seraph. So far he's been very helpful, teach us the basics of fighting and fought alongside us against those Shadows." said Joker coolly to Skull.

"At least you're a step above that moron, Joker." said Mona as he smiled happily at Joker.

"Don't call me a moron!" said Skull as he scowled at Mona. "You sure talk and act big around him, but what if it turns out you're just some stray cat in the end?" added Skull suspiciously to Mona.

"That can't be…" said Mona as he shook his head a little.

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place and with an intruder…?" said the voice of a knight suddenly from outside the safe room, which surprises Joker, Skull, Seraph and Mona before they decided to listen quietly near the door.

"Princess…?" whisper Skull in confusion to the others (who glance and shrugged their shoulders in confusion at him).

"I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of intruders…" said the same knight.

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!" said the voice of another knight to the first knight.

"Yeah, I know. What about the intruder with her?" said the first knight.

"He's been taken to the dungeons where the guards there will dealt with him." said the second knight to the first knight before they heard the sound of footsteps walking away and they relaxed their guards.

"Who's this princess and the intruder they're talkin' about…?" asked Skull as he glance in confusion at Joker, Seraph and Mona.

"I hope they're not talking about who I think it is, you guys." replied Seraph concernly to them.

"I hope so too, Seraph. I mean, you and Skull did sent her away by force, there's no way she could come back on her own and bringing someone else in with her too. Unless… Oh, please, I really hope that the app isn't being downloaded on her phone like ours." said Joker worriedly to himself and Seraph.

"What if you're wrong and it already downloaded itself into her phone, Joker?" said Seraph.

"That's…" said Joker before he fell silent.

"I should probably look into this!" said Mona as he quietly opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving Joker, Skull and Seraph behind as they exchange exasperated looks with each other.

"Well, there he goes. I hope he'll be careful." said Seraph.

"Yeah." said Joker as he nodded at Seraph.

"And yet another question goes unanswered… Stuff like the castle and that navigation app are mysterious… but Morgana's got 'em both beat." said Skull sullenly to them.

"Skull! Remember, codenames!" Joker corrected him sternly.

"Crap! Sorry!" said Skull apologetically to him. "What was I again?… Oh yeah, Skull!"

"Oh no, you guys! This is bad!" said Mona worriedly to them as he came back into the room.

"That was fast!" said Skull in surprise to Mona.

"What is it, Mona? What's bad?" asked Joker as a bad feeling rose up from within him (same goes for Seraph).

"Your friend and your teacher… Lady Ann and Kanakubo! They've been taken by Shadows…!" yell Mona worriedly to them (which make them gasped and widened their eyes in shock and worry in unison).

" _Oh, damn it! I hate it when I thought correctly sometimes. Seraph too._ " thought Joker as he winced while pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Wait, what? But we sent her home earlier. So how did she came back and with Kanakubo-sensei too!?" said Skull.

"If Lady Ann does indeed have the app, it could be possible for her to come back and your teacher must be nearby and got dragged in too." said Mona worriedly to them.

"Oh, damn it! I knew it would happen somehow!" said Seraph.

"Yes! That's exactly what I said!" replied Mona as he scowled at Seraph and jumped a little.

"Dammit! We let her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself and with Kanakubo-sensei coming in too…!" said Skull as he furiously scratch the top of his head in annoyance.

"Come on, you guys! Let's find and rescue them now!" said Joker firmly to them.

"Hold on, Joker. How about we split up? You, Skull and Mona find and rescue Takamaki-san while I find and rescue sensei." suggested Seraph.

"Huh? Are you sure about going alone to find and rescue sensei, Seraph?" said Skull in disbelief at Seraph.

"Skull's right. It's dangerous for you to go alone…" said Mona.

"Don't you guys worry about me. I'll be fine so let's stop wasting time and hurry up in finding and helping them already!" said Seraph impatiently at them.

"… Alright then, Seraph. Be careful." said Joker as he nodded reluctantly at Seraph.

"I know, Joker." said Seraph as he nodded back at Joker before they quickly left the room, split up and Seraph turned left and went to the dungeons while Joker, Mona and Skull turned right and search for Ann.


	20. Chapter 20

**In the dungeons…**

"Let me out of here and where did you damn knights taken Takamaki-san!?" snapped Kanakubo-sensei as he glared at the single silent knight that stands (and ignoring him) outside the dungeon room that he's locked in after the 3 knights that he and Ann encountered outside the castle earlier grab hold and took them into the castle before one of the knights that grab hold of Kanakubo-sensei bring him away from Ann down to the dungeon area, unlock and open the door to one of the cell rooms, shoved Kanakubo-sensei roughly into the cell room before the knight closed and locked the door and turned his back to Kanakubo-sensei. "Answer me, dammit!" snapped Kanakubo-sensei again at the silent knight before he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and he widened his eyes in disbelief and shock at seeing who it is.

"Well well, what have we here? If it isn't the damn annoying thorn in my side, Kanakubo-sensei. Hmph, what an unpleasant surprise to see you as yet another intruder that dare to step foot into my castle just like Sakamoto, Arisato and the criminal record delinquent did for the past few days." said Shadow Kamoshida as he stopped in front of the cell and glance smugly at Kanakubo-sensei.

"Huh? Is that you, Kamoshida? What're you doing here and wearing such a ridiculous and vulgar outfit too?" said Kanakubo-sensei as he scowled in disgust at Shadow Kamoshida and his vulgar outfit.

"What am I doing here, you say? Because this is my castle, a place where I do whatever I damn well pleased and you dare to say that this outfit of mine is ridiculous and vulgar? For that insult of yours, your punishment is death." said Shadow Kamoshida more smugly at Kanakubo-sensei before he glance at the knight standing outside the cell. "I'll leave you to be Kanakubo's punisher and executioner, beat then execute him because I'm going to check out the other intruder that came with him." ordered Shadow Kamoshida to the knight.

"Yes, your majesty!" said the knight as he nodded obediently at Shadow Kamoshida before he unlock and open the door and went into the room to carry out his order.

"What!? Are you insane and you stay the hell away from Takamaki-san, you…" snarled Kanakubo as he glared at the back of Shadow Kamoshida as he turned and walked away.

"Silence!" snapped the knight as he slammed the blunt end of his sword hard against Kanakubo's stomach, causing him to let out a yell of pain before he fell to his knees on the floor while he clutch his injured stomach with his arms.

XXXX

"Ugh, just how big is this dungeon place of Kamoshida and where the heck did he put Kanakubo-sensei?" groaned sERAPH with a frustrated look on his face as he stepped into yet another huge dungeon place filled with partially empty cell rooms (that he saw had injured Shujin male students locked in them) before he heard the familiar yell of pain of Kanakubo-sensei somewhere in front of him. "Hm? That sound, it's…"

" _Yeah, it's the voice of your teacher and sounds like he's in trouble! Hurry, Mi… I mean, Seraph!_ " said Orpheus worriedly to Seraph (who quickly rush down the hallway toward where Kanakubo-sensei's voice come from).

XXXX

"Ugh…" groaned Kanakubo-sensei as he's now lying face-down on the floor while his body throbbed with more pain after the knight beat him up with it's fists and shield.

"I think that's enough of me beating you up, it's time for me to sent you on your way to your maker, intruder." said the knight as he raised his sword above Kanakubo-sensei.

" _Goddammit, I hate how weak and useless I am now! Not only am I unable to defend and protect the Shujin students from Kamoshida's reign of tyranny, unable to stop him from going after Takamaki-san and now I'm going to be executed by this knight of his after he beaten me up? Oh hell no! I had enough and refused to let Kamoshida do whatever he damn well pleased anymore!_ " thought Kanakubo-sensei as he glared up at the knight.

" _That's more like it and how right you are, un jeune homme._ " said a deep french male voice to Kanakubo-sensei before his eyes suddenly turned yellow and an unbearable pain wracked his head, which caused him to clutched his throbbing head with his hands while he grunted and writhed in pain and agony on the floor (which make the knight step back in confusion at Kanakubo-sensei suddenly acting out). " _Now that you've finally accept and taken your "other self" will of rebellion to the next level, it's time we form a pact, a pact that shall turned you into the rebellious knight that showed and take this dastardly king down from his throne of tyranny, for I am thou, thou art I!_ " added the male voice firmly to Kanakubo-sensei (who stop grunting and writhing in pain and agony) before a silver-coloured knight helmet appear and covered the upper-half of his face.

XXXX

" _Finally found you, sensei! Now I'm going to…_ " thought Seraph as he finally arrived and found Kanakubo-sensei inside a cell room with one of Shadow Kamoshida's knights with him and as Seraph's about to aid him, a surprise look appear on Seraph's face when he saw a silver-coloured knight helmet appear and covered the upper-half ofKanakubo-sensei's face. " _Huh? A different mask… no, a different helmet appear on sensei's face?_ " thought Seraph to himself.

" _Yeah. Which means that he has awaken to his persona like Joker, Mona and Skull did so you need to stay back like before, Seraph._ " said Messiah.

" _Fine, Messiah._ " said Seraph before he (and Messiah) fell silent and watched the event unfold.

XXXX

Kanakubo-sensei tightly grab hold, struggle and managed to ripped the knight helmet away with his hands, causes blood to burst out and run down his face as he screamed in pain before a strong beam of dark blue flame suddenly appear and enveloped around Kanakubo-sensei for a few seconds then the dark blue flame dissipated away to reveal Kanakubo-sensei wearing a full silver-coloured military/knight mixture outfit with a long and wide white cape down his back and holding a halberd weapon in his hands with a brave-looking Persona (a white-faced, amber-eyed man wearing a full French style golden knight outfit with matching long cape down his back and holding a two-handed sword in his hands) floating in thin air above Kanakubo-sensei.

" _Woah. This feeling of awakening to my Persona, Roland is great! Now to get rid of this knight that almost killed me before I leave to find Takamaki-san._ " thought Kanakubo-sensei to himself before he got into a battle stance, told his persona to used Magna skill twice on the knight, causing the knight to yell out and fell down before Kanakubo-sensei approach, raised and plunge his halberd weapon deep into the knight's chest, causing the knight to yell out again before he dissipated into black mist and right after the knight disappear, Kanakubo-sensei's Persona also disappear back into his soul before Seraph showed himself in front of Kanakubo-sensei (who's surprise to see Seraph inside Kamoshida's palace) before Seraph help bring and guide Kanakubo-sensei's away with him out of the huge dungeon place to rejoined Joker, Skull and Mona and also finding and rescuing Ann.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, inside another room in Kamoshida's Palace…**

After the knights brought Ann and Kanakubo-sensei into the castle with them, they immediately took her away from Kanakubo-sensei down several rooms and hallways and into a completely red-coloured room with dozens of pink flower petals, lit candles and pink-skinned faceless girls wearing nothing but tight-looking white short sleeve shirts and dark panties (which make Ann had a disgusted look on her face when she saw them) scattering and lying on the floor and they bound her arms and legs against the manacles on a wooden X-shaped cross with a large portrait of a shirtless Kamoshida hanging on the wall behind her.

"What's all this about and where did you all took Kanakubo-sensei!? Seriously, I'm gonna call the cops!" snapped Ann to the 2 knights standing and watching in front of her as she try to freed her arms and legs from the manacles to no avail.

"So, this is the other intruder, huh?" said Shadow Kamoshida as he stepped into the room, approach and stopped to glance at Ann.

"Kamoshida!?" said Ann with a surprise look on her face at Shadow Kamoshida before she's surprise even more when she saw the copy of herself wearing a bikini and a crown on her head followed and stopped beside him. "Huh? Who's that…? More importantly, what is this place!? Why's the school turned into something like this!?" demanded Ann to Shadow Kamoshida.

"I can't believe you knights mistook my Ann for someone like her." sneered Shadow Kamoshida at his knights before he began chuckling wickedly at her. "Are you afraid?" asked Shadow Kamoshida in a taunting tone of voice to her.

"What is that outfit…? Have you lost your mind?" said Ann skeptically to Shadow Kamoshida.

"I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle… The world of my desires." said Shadow Kamoshida as he smirked at her.

"What the-!? Wait… Is this some red-light district!?" said Ann in disbelief as she struggle against the cross.

"What a lively slave." said Shadow Kamoshida in a mock-happy tone of voice to Ann.

"This isn't funny! Enough of the bullshit, Kamoshida!" snapped Ann angrily at Shadow Kamoshida (who let out a "tch" sound before he turned to glance at not-Ann).

"The inpertinent girl's decided to tell me off. What do you think about that?" asked Shadow Kamoshida coolly to not-Ann.

"Talking back is like… totally unforgivable…" replied not-Ann slowly and seductively to Shadow Kamoshida.

"In that case… she should be executed." sneered Shadow Kamoshida as he turned and lightly glared back at Ann as he tilted his head to the golden knight to silently ordered him to walked closer to Ann and he did. "Now then, how shall I play with you? Shall I tear you into little pieces?" taunted Shadow Kamoshida as he smiled wickedly to Ann.

"Are you kidding me…?" said Ann in fear and disbelief at Shadow Kamoshida.

XXXX

"This is effed up… Is that what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team…!?" said Skull as he, Joker and Mona stared in anger and disgust at the faceless girls moaning, sitting and sprawled out seductively on the floor in front of them after they stepped into the room.

"What a disgusting man. How could he go this far and do this to not only Suzui-san but these other girls too!" said Joker in a horror, anger then disgust tone of voice at Kamoshida.

"Hey, that's…!" yell Mona to Joker and Skull as he turned and saw Ann shackled up on a cross and surrounded by Shadow Kamoshida, not-Ann and the knights with a shock look on his face before they quickly run toward her.

"Takamaki!" yell Skull worriedly to Ann as he clench his fists.

"Takamaki-san!" yell Joker worriedly as well.

"You thieves again? Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…" said Shadow Kamoshida as he turned to glance and scowled darkly at them for coming and interrupting his fun.

"What's the deal with this guy…!?" yell Ann incredulously to them.

"You little…!" growled Skull as he glared at Shadow Kamoshida.

"Release Takamaki-san now!" said Joker firmly and angrily to Shadow Kamoshida. "Hmph, as if I would listen to a criminal brat like you… How many times are you gonna come back?" Shadow Kamoshida sneered at Joker, Skull and Mona before he glance back at Ann. "I bet you're just like those thieves. You came because you're pissed at me, huh? But, ah… I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she jumped, you know." said Shadow Kamoshida mockingly to Ann.

"Huh…?" said Ann in confusion at Shadow Kamoshida.

"You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her take your place." said Shadow Kamoshida.

"You bastard!" yell Ann angrily at Shadow Kamoshida as she struggle even more against the cross before she gasped in fear when the golden knight move even closer.

"No! Get away from her!" yell Skull as he's about to charge forward and intercept the knights but they both stopped when they saw Shadow Kamoshida raised his hand to the knights, silently ordering them to raised their swords near Ann's chest.

"Take one more step and I'll kill her on the spot." said Shadow Kamoshida threateningly to them.

"Dammit…!" said Skull as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"You bastard!" snapped Joker as he glared hatefully at Shadow Kamoshida.

"Just stand back, watch and enjoy the dismantlement show." said Shadow Kamoshida smugly to them.

"No! Don't!" protested Ann with a pale look on her face.

"Maybe I'll start with her clothes…" said Shadow Kamoshida as he glance back at Ann with a perverted look on his face.

"You're such a perv!" purred not-Ann happily to Shadow Kamoshida.

" _We have to do something to save Takamaki-san somehow! But what should we do!?_ " thought Joker anxiously in his mind.

"H-Hey, what are we gonna do!?" demanded Skull worriedly to Mona (who shook his head at Skull).

"Is this… my punishment for what happened to Shiho….?" said Ann sorrowfully to herself and to Shiho as she lowered her head to look down at the floor.

"That's more like it. You should've looked like this from the start." said Shadow Kamoshida smugly to Ann.

"Shiho… I'm so sorry…" whisper Ann as tears started to glisten in her eyes.

"What are you doing, Takamaki-san? Are you just going to listen? Don't you dare give in and let him get away with it!" Joker reprimanded Ann.

"Huh…?" said Ann as she raised to glance in surprise and confusion at Joker reprimanding her before a stern and determined look appear and replaced the previous sorrow and defeated look on her face. "No… I don't want that… You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me… What was I thinking…!?" added Ann angrily to herself as she struggle in her shackles again.

"It's like I always say. Slaves should just behave and-" said Shadow Kamoshida as he scowled at her, trying to revert her back to her sorrow and defeated self.

"…Shut up!" snapped Ann, cutting off Shadow Kamoshida's words. "I've had enough of this… You've pissed me off, you son of a bitch!" added Ann as she glared hatefully at Shadow Kamoshida.

" _My… It's taken far too long._ " said a slightly deep and refined woman's voice slightly impatiently to Ann before her eyes abruptly turned yellow and she gasped out loud when she felt an indescribable pain suddenly wracked her head and body.

" _Tell me… Who is going to avenge her if you don't?_ " asked the woman's voice sternly to Ann (who closed her eyes as she gasped and writhed even more in pain in her shackles).

" _Forgiving him was never the option… Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within… I am thou, thou art I… We can finally forged a contract…_ " the woman's voice told Ann (who let out a scream of pain and agony before she slumped down in exhaustion).

"I hear you… Carmen. You're right. No more holding back…!" said Ann quite loudly and in agreement to the woman's voice named Carmen before a red-coloured cat-shaped mask appear on her face (which make both Shadow Kamoshida and not-Ann gasped and step back in nervousness).

" _There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength._ " said Carmen proudly to Ann as she finally break her arms and legs free from the shackles of the cross before she grabbed and ripped off her mask, causes blood to burst out and run down her face before a strong beam of dark blue flames suddenly appear and enveloped around Ann before the flames died down to reveal Ann (whose uniform had change into a different tight-looking red latex zipper suit with cleavage cutout on it and a clipped on long red tail behind it, dark red thigh high boots on her legs and a pair of pink gloves on her hands) with a tall, large, slim-looking, dark-skinned, shoulder-length and curly black-haired, yellow-eyed woman wearing a sleeveless layered red, pink and black-coloured stripe dress as she holds a heart-shaped face man wearing a black suit by the back collar of his suit while she stepped on the back of another under her stiletto shoe as she stands behind Ann.

After Ann awakened to her Persona, she glance in defiance at Shadow Kamoshida, not-Ann and his knights before she charge toward one of the nearest knights, kicked his sword out of his hand up into the air, jumped and grabbed hold of the sword with her hands before she swung the sword down on not-Ann, which make her scream out in surprise and pain before she fell to her knees and dissipated into black mists.

Shadow Kamoshida step back even more in nervousness and fear from Ann after she got rid of her copy while the golden-armored knight moved in front of him to protect him from her.

"You know what? I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with… you scumbag." said Ann coldly to Shadow Kamoshida as she stood up and glared at him.

"Bitch…!" muttered Shadow Kamoshida angrily as he glared back at her.

"You stole everything from Shiho… You destroyed her… Now it's your turn! I'll rob you of everything…!" yell Ann as she take a few steps forward, raised and pointed a finger accusingly at Kamoshida while Joker, Skull and Mona walked forward and stood on both sides of her.

"How dare you! Enough of your insolence!" yell the golden knight angrily at Ann before he and 2 of his fellow knights standing with him started to shake, melted down to a large puddle on the floor and merged together before they formed and reveal a large, purple-skinned, red-eyed horned and bearded demon sitting on a toilet seat.

"No, I've enough of you. Nothing and no one's gonna stop me now! Let's go, Carmen!" retorted Ann to the demon as she clench her hands into fists before she and the others got into their battle stances.

"How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass!? Pay for this insolence with your life!" exclaimed the demon angrily to Ann.

"That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don't make me laugh with that "love" bullshit!" snapped Ann angrily to the demon as a whip weapon appear in front of her and she take it in her hands. "C'mon, Carmen! Let's give 'em a fiery hell!" said Ann to Carmen.

" _Of course, my mistress._ " said Carmen as she nodded to Ann, who charge toward the shadow with Joker, Skull and Mona and they proceed to attack it relentlessly with their weapons, managed to knock it down before they jumped and attack it swiftly from all sides.

The shadow was not amused with their attacks as it got up from the floor, healed it's injuries a little with a Dia skill before it uses Magaru skill on all of them, injuring them a little and managed to knock Skull down.

"Skull!" yell Joker concernly to Skull before he glared at the shadow. "You'll pay for that! Come, Pyro Jack!" said Joker angrily at the shadow before he switch his persona Arsene to Pyro Jack and uses Agi skill on it, knock it down again before he, Mona and Ann jumped and attack it from all sides again until they defeated it.

"To think… there would be a woman… who could stand up to King Kamoshida…" said the shadow weakly to Ann.

"Pff, outside of school, that guy's nothing but a pathetic loser!" said Ann mockingly to the shadow before it dissipated into black mist while Joker helped Skull to stand up from the floor.

After the shadow dissipated away, Joker, Skull and Mona turned to glared at Shadow Kamoshida while Ann panted tiredly as she hunched over and placed her hands on her knees.

"Oh shit…!" said Shadow Kamoshida fearfully to himself before he quickly turned and run out of the room and away from them.

"Wait…!" yell Ann as she try to go after him but fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"Why'd you come here, man!? And more importantly, how!?" yell Skull in a reprimanding tone of voice to Ann.

"Hey! Is that how you speak to a woman!?" snapped Mona as he scowled at Skull before he glance concernly at Ann. "Are you all right, Lady Ann!?" asked Mona softly to Ann.

"Lady Ann…?" said Ann as she glance at Mona in surprise and confusion. "Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive…? How can it talk? And… where in the world are we…!?" demanded Ann to them.

"J-Just calm down. Everything's going to be OK; don't worry." said Mona reassuringly to Ann.

"How am I supposed to calm down!?" yell Ann quite frustratedly to Mona before she glance down and saw her new outfit with a disbelief look on her face. "H-Huh…? Why am I dressed like this!? When did I- Ugh, what's with this!?" added Ann as she covered her body with her arms and kneel down in embarrassment.

"We'll explain to slowly to you later, Takamaki-san. Right now we need regroup with Seraph and Kanakubo-sensei and get out of here before Kamoshida return with reinforcements." said Joker warningly to Ann and to the others.

"Joker's right, guys! We don't have a choice. Let's retreat for now!" said Mona as he glance at Skull.

"We were just getting' fired up, and you had to come and get in the way… Rgh, fine…" grumbled Skull before he approach Ann and hold out his lefy hand. "Here… give us your arms." Skull told Ann before she warily placed her hands on his and stood up just as both Seraph and Kanakubo-sensei stepped into the room (which caused Joker, Skull, Mona and Ann to have relief then surprise looks on their faces at Kanakubo-sensei's knight outfit) before they turned and quickly left the castle.


	21. Chapter 21

**A few minutes later, in the subway station…**

"Which one you want?" asked Ryuji to Ann as he's holding several soda bottles in his hands after he bought them from a nearby convenience store in the station.

"Whichever's not carbonated." replied Ann.

"Uh, they're all carbonated actually." said Ryuji with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"Then…" said Ann as she take the pepsi one from Ryuji before he hold out the other 3 bottles to Akira, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei and they take the bottles and thanked him for it.

"What about me?" asked Morgana as he popped out of Akira's bag and glance at Ryuji.

"Huh? But you're a cat." said Ryuji as he crossed his arms (which make Morgana scowled at him before he glance at Ann).

"…Have you calmed down, Lady Ann?" asked Morgana concernly to Ann.

"Yeah, I am. Um… Morgana, right?" replied Ann before she turned to glance at Morgana with a surprise look on her face. "I really am talking to a cat… This feels so strange…"

"Yeah, it is. But at least it's better than us being taken into the castle earlier by the knights of that vulgar king Kamoshida, Takamaki-san." said Kanakubo-sensei.

"Yeah, I guess, sensei." said Ann as she nodded at him.

"Don't be, Takamaki-san and Kanakubo-sensei. You 2 will get used to it soon enough like us." said Akira reassuringly to both Ann and Kanakubo-sensei about Morgana.

"It's only natural that you 2 are confused. Demanding that you 2 understand all of this right after what you 2 went through is asking too much." said Morgana.

"Honestly, I still can't believe what happened… And that power… my Persona…" said Ann as she shake her head in disbelief a little.

"Same goes for me too. To think that something like that would happen to us…" said Kanakubo-sensei with a pondering look on his face.

"It's the will of your rebellions, Lady Ann, Kanakubo-sensei. With it, you 2 will be able to fight with us in that other world." explained Morgana.

"I see. So if what you told me is true, we can make Kamoshida have a change of heart, right?" asked Ann as she glance at Akira. "Is it really possible…? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?" added Ann anxiously to them.

"Yes. We can if we try, Takamaki-san. Because no one else will." replied Akira while Minato nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Kurusu's right. The volleyball team's keepin' quiet about this, while teachers and parents turn a blind eye, except you, Kanakubo-sensei. If guys and girls and a teacher like us complain, they're just gonna shot us down. Goin' all in on this plan is the only choice we got." said Ryuji as he clench his fists.

"Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho. He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her… I'll never forgive him." said Ann determinedly to them.

"Wait, did you just said, "let me help"? You mean you want us to take you along?" asked Ryuji in a surprise tone of voice to Ann.

"Are you sure about that, Takamaki-san?" added Akira concernly to her.

"Yes, I'm sure, Kurusu-kun." said Ann as she nodded at Akira.

"What about you, sensei?" asked Ryuji as he glance at Kanakubo-sensei.

"I'll help too. No way I'm gonna let you students do such a dangerous thing by yourselves." replied Kanakubo-sensei as he glance and nodded back at Ryuji.

"Guess that settles it. I think we should let them come with us to help out, you guys. Because they awaken to their Personas before we leave that bastard's palace." said Minato.

"Thanks, Arisato-kun." said Kanakubo-sensei as he nodded at Minato (who nodded back to him before he froze when he felt the same familiar feeling of time around him stopped and he heard the same girl's voice spoke to him from within his head).

_**To you who has bear,** _

_**And endured the weight of the Universe,** _

_**We of the Aeon Arcana,** _

_**Give you our blessings, Messiah.** _

After the girl's voice fell silent, Minato look up and saw a card (a five-coloured (blue, red, green, yellow and white) card with the black figure of a woman holding two swords on her outstretched hands with the black figure of a serpent wrapped around her body) appearing and floating above Kanakubo-sensei's head before it fell and landed accurately on his hand and he quickly put the cards into his pocket before time resumed around him and the others.

"Yeah, thank you, senpai. Also don't act like I'm gonna drag you guys down. Weren't you guys watching? I can fight too." replied Ann as she scowled at Ryuji (who had a worry look on his face before he glance at Akira).

"Hey, what should we do?" asked Ryuji hesitantly at Akira.

"I'll admit that it's dangerous to bring her and sensei but… that is because they're not like us up until a few minutes ago. And like what Arisato-senpai just said to us, they did awaken to their Personas like we did and they can fight so I don't see any reason on why we shouldn't bring them with us." replied Akira with a small yet firm nod of his head to Ryuji about Ann and Kanakubo-sensei.

"I agree as well. The more the merrier, after all." said Morgana in an agreeing tone of voice to Akira. "Don't worry, I'll protect her." added Morgana firmly to Akira about him protecting Ann.

"Good to see that we have made up our minds about Takamaki-san and Kanakubo-sensei." said Minato.

"Yeah, we know, senpai." said Akira.

"Even if you guys or sensei say no, I'd just go in alone." said Ann as she scowled at them.

"Oh no, you don't! Not on my watch, Takamaki-san!" said Kanakubo-sensei as he scowled at Ann.

"Oh right, she can enter the palace by herself now that she and probably sensei has the app too… Rgh, fine." said Ryuji as he scratch his head in slight exasperation at Ann's decision.

"Then it's decided. Well, I hope we'll get along!" said Ann as she smiled at Ryuji before she turned to glance at Akira. "I'm going to make Kamoshida pay and atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake… but for everything he's done. I won't let any more people suffer because of him. I'll do whatever it takes!" added Ann sternly and firmly to Akira.

"Yes, we all will, Takamaki-san. Together." said Akira as he nodded to Ann before he felt a strong fighting resolve from Ann, which Minato noticed as he saw Akira froze and stand still for a moment then saw a card forming above Ann's head before the card flew down toward Akira, who take it and put it into his blazer pocket.

"Just let me know when you guys and sensei are heading back in… Oh wait! We don't have each other's info. Hey, give me your number and chat ID. And, um…" said Ann to them before Minato, Akira, Ryuji and Kanakubo-sensei take out their phones and exchange numbers and chat ID with each other. "I'll be counting on you guys and sensei, then. Same goes for you, Morgana. And also, there's something that I want to talk to you about, Arisato-senpai." added Ann as she smiled and nodded to Akira, Ryuji, Morgana and Kanakubo-sensei.

"Yeah, right back at you too, Takamaki-san." said Akira as both he and Ryuji smiled back at Ann.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lady Ann." said Morgana as he smiled back at her as well.

"We know, Takamaki-san." said Kanakubo-sensei, smiling as well.

"Something that you want to tell me about? Is it about your friend Suzui-san, Takamaki-san?" asked Minato sadly to Ann.

"…Yeah, you're right." replied Ann as she nodded at Minato. "But can we talk about it in a different place instead of here?"

"Sure. Lead the way then, Takamaki-san." said Minato before both he and Ann bade farewell to Akira, Ryuji, Morgana and Kanakubo-sensei and they left the station.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, in Inokashira Park…**

"Well, here we are, Arisato-senpai. Inokashira Park." said Ann as she turned and gestured with her hand at the quiet, peaceful park next to a large and deep-looking pool around her and Minato.

" _Here I am back in this park for another private conversation, this time with Takamaki-san._ " thought Minato as he briefly look around the park before he glance at Ann. "Okay, now for our talk about Suzui-san."

"Yeah. Shiho… She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry for rejecting your help and hurting you on the rooftop back in Shujin Academy before the ambulance came and take her to the hospital." said Ann sadly to Minato.

"She said that, huh? That's kind of her but it's still meaningless because I failed to helped and prevent her from falling from the roof and I'm sorry for that, Takamaki-san." said Minato sadly and guiltily to Ann.

"Why are you apologizing to me for, Arisato-senpai? It's not your fault because you did try your best to stop her." said Ann reassuringly to Minato.

" _She's right, Minato. So don't blame yourself too much for what happened to Shiho Suzui. It's that damn bastard fault for making her do that._ " said Pharos in agreement with Ann.

" _Yeah, I know, Pharos. Thanks._ " said Minato slightly thankfully to Pharos before he glance at Ann. "Thanks for saying that to me, Takamaki-san. I appreciate it." said Minato thankfully to Ann, which make her smiled at him before he froze when he felt the same familiar feeling of time around him stopped and he heard the same familiar girl's voice spoke to him from within his head for the second time.

_**To you who has bear,** _

_**And endured the weight of the Universe,** _

_**We of the Lovers Arcana,** _

_**Give you our blessing, Messiah.** _

After the familiar girl's voice fell silent, Minato look up and saw a single purple and pink-coloured card with the two black figures of a man and a woman standing opposite each other and staring up at a huge, purple-coloured heart floating in the sky above them appearing and floating above Ann's head before the card fell and landed accurately on Minato's hand and he quickly put the card into his blazer pocket next to the Aeon card he obtained from Kanakubo-sensei before time resumed around him and Ann.

Both Minato and Ann then bade farewell to each other, left the park and take separate trains to head home. After another few minutes, the train that Minato is on with the other passengers stopped in the next station and he got off the train with them, left the station, bought a large bag of groceries from a nearby supermarket store for dinner before head back and went into the apartment only to be bombarded with concern questions from Makoto and a stern lecture from Sae for what he did in Shujin Academy after he stepped into the apartment.

Minato spend the next-half hour answering Makoto's questions and explained his action calmly to Sae and also reassured them both that he's alright but worry for Shiho Suzui until he's done (and also establish Priestess and Judgement social links with them) before he head to the kitchen to cooked dinner for himself, Sae and Makoto and once he's done cooking, they had and finish their quiet and solemn dinner before Makoto take out and gave a shopping bag with the Buchimaru logo on it to Minato and told him that it's her late birthday present for him (which he thanked her gratefully as he take the shopping bag from her, take a look and saw that she gave him a Buchimaru hoodie jacket) before they take their separate baths then head back to their rooms to sleep.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, somewhere in Ikebukuro…**

"We've arrived and landed on the rooftop of the other manor that belongs to the Kirijo group in Ikebukuro now, everyone." said a fair-skinned, short dark purple-haired, brown-eyed woman named Kikuno Saikawa (who's wearing a long sleeve white button up shirt with a black button up vest over it, white gloves on her hands, long black pants with black shoes on her feet) to Minako, Shinjiro, Aigis, Junpei, Yukari, Ken and Koromaru sitting beside and behind her in the helicopter after she safely and securely landed the helicopter that she's piloting on the helipad located on the huge garden behind the manor before she turned off the helicopter's engine while Minako, Shinjiro, Aigis, Junpei, Yukari, Ken and Koromaru got off the helicopter.

"Finally, my arms and legs are quite stiff after being inside the helicopter for hours." groaned Junpei as he start stretching his arms and legs.

"Uh huh. Whatever." said Yukari as she rolled her eyes at Junpei.

"Now now, please don't start another argument, Yukari, Junpei." said Minako.

"Yeah, I agreed with Minako-san so don't start another childish argument." said Ken in agreement with Minako.

"Fine." sighed Junpei.

"Come on, let's get into the manor so we can all have an early rest before we begin our search for whoever it is that's the new vessel of Death tomorrow." said Shinjiro slightly sternly to them and they all nodded to him before they went into the manor for their early rest.


	22. Chapter 22

**The next day, in the Niijima apartment…**

Minato let out a light groan of irritation when he felt someone repeatedly poking at his back before he woke up and sat up from the bed then turned to see who is it that's poking him and saw that it's Pharos. "Pharos, what's the big idea and what do you think you're doing, poking my back repeatedly?" said Minato in an irritated tone of voice at Pharos.

" _Wow, aren't you quite a complain one today, Minato. And as for the reason on why I'm poking you to get you to wake up is because I've something important to tell you._ " said Pharos sarcastically at Minato.

"Something important to tell me? Like what, Pharos?" asked Minato in confusion at Pharos.

" _Well, like the fact that I've sense that your sister, your cousin and some of your former SEES teammates is here in Ikebukuro, Tokyo now._ " replied Pharos.

"Huh, what did you just say? My sister, my cousin and my former SEES teammates are all here already!?" said Minato in surprise at Pharos.

" _No, I didn't say all of them, only your family and some of your former SEES teammates is here now, Minato. So what're you gonna do now that I've told you about them?_ " asked Pharos.

"… What else? I'm going to see them, especially my sister and cousin after school ends for today, of course." replied Minato with a small smile on his face at knowing that he'll see his family and some of his former SEES teammates soon.

" _Of course you will, Minato. I wonder, will they be surprise, shock or happy to see you or all at once after Elizabeth freed you from your duty as the Great Seal?_ " said Pharos with a pondering look on his face.

"I guess we'll see soon enough, Pharos. For now, I should be getting ready to go to school with Makoto-san." said Minato to Pharos (who smiled before he vanish back into Minato's soul) as he got off the bed and left his room to do his usual morning routine, head back into his room to change into his uniform and grab his new Buchimaru hoodie jacket that he received as a late birthday gift from Makoto yesterday, had a quiet breakfast with Makoto before they grabbed their bags (which Minato put his hoodie jacket in), left the apartment and head to the subway station to take the train to Shujin.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in the kitchen in Kirijo manor…**

After Shinjiro woke up, do his usual morning routine of bathing and putting on a long sleeve black shirt, long black pants and a beanie hat on his head, he went downstairs toward the kitchen and began cooking breakfast for his girlfriend and SEES teammates. As he stirred a bowl of egg white/yolk then poured it onto a frying pan to make scrambled eggs, he suddenly felt a familiar pair of feminine arms wrapped around his waist from behind him, which make him smiled.

"Good morning, Minako." greeted Shinjiro happily and lovingly at Minako.

"Good morning to you too, Shinji." greeted Minako happily and lovingly back at Shinjiro. "What are we having for breakfast today?" asked Minako curiously to Shinjiro.

"Scrambled eggs with bacons, sausages, cheese and broccoli. A common western breakfast for everyone in this manor, Minako." replied Shinjiro.

"Mm, sounds good, Shinji." said Minako as she hugged Shinjiro for another few seconds before letting go and left the kitchen and went into the dining room to help set up the table for everyone and once she's done setting up the table, she heard the sound of someone ringing the doorbell outside and she went toward the front door, opened it and saw a fair-skinned, short dark blue-haired, blue-eyed woman wearing a full dark grey business suit and black heels on her feet standing outside the door.

"Oh, good morning and nice to see you, Naoto-chan. Would you like to come in and join us for breakfast, how goes your investigation into the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown cases and what brings you here to Mitsuru-san's manor?" greeted Minako happily and politely at the woman named Naoto.

"Good morning and nice to see you too, Minako. Of course I'd join you all for breakfast, my investigation on the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown cases is still ongoing and the reason why I'm here is because I got a call from Mitsuru-san telling me that you and some of the SEES members are here to search for whoever it is that's the new vessel of Death so I decided to come and lend you all a hand too, Minako." replied Naoto calmly to Minako.

"Mitsuru-san did? I see and we'd gladly accept your help, Naoto-chan." said Minako as both she and Naoto went to the dining room and a few minutes later, the rest of the SEES members came into the dining room after they woke up and cleaned themselves up, met and greeted Naoto too before Shinjiro came out of the kitchen while holding and putting the plates of foods that he cooked for them on the table before they began eating their breakfast (while Shinjiro sat down beside Minako and ate with her).

"So now that all of us are done having our breakfast, do you know the current whereabouts of this vessel of "Death" that you detected back in Mitsuru-san's mansion?" asked Ken as he, Minako, Shinjiro, Naoto, Kikuno, Yukari, Junpei and Koromaru glance at Aigis right after they had their breakfast.

"Yes, I do, Ken-san. I sensed that it's currently in a school in Aoyama-Itchome area." replied Aigis as she glance and nodded at Ken.

"So it's in a school in Aoyama-Itchome, huh? Looks like we had no choice but to wait until school's over and if we do found whoever it is that has "Death" inside him or her body and we fight it, won't it caused damage on the guy or girl too, Aigis?" asked Minako concernly at Aigis.

"She's right, Aigis. Isn't there another way for us to fight "Death" without hurting the unfortunate person who has it inside him or her?" said Yukari worriedly to Aigis as well.

"I understood your concerns for the person who holds "Death" inside his or her body, Minako-san, Yukari-san. And worry not because there's a way for me to get "Death" out without hurting the person holding it." said Aigis reassuringly to both Minako and Yukari (who sighed in relief unison).

"That's good." said Minako.

"Yeah. And now we wait." said Shinjiro before he picked up and bring the dirty dishes and cups into the kitchen to washed them (with Minako helping him out) while Naoto, Yukari, Junpei, Ken, Kikuno and Koromaru also left the dining room to do their own things.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, in the classroom…**

Halfway through Chouno-sensei's teaching, Minato felt his phone vibrating and he discreetly pull it out to see and read the incoming message under his desk.

RS: _Hey. We're meeting up at the hideout after school, right?_

AT: _Don't text us now. We're in class, Ryuji._

KK: _Oh, texting with others while class is in session, huh? Looks like I'll be giving you extra homework later, Sakamoto-kun._

MA: _She's right and looks like you're in trouble with Kanakubo-sensei now, Sakamoto-kun. So pay attention to what the teacher is teaching us about._

RS: _Oh, come on, sensei! Woah! You mean you guys are actually listening to this crap!?_

KK: _Crap!? You think our teachings are crap, Sakamoto-kun!?_

RS: _Huh? N-No! Of course not, sensei!_

AK: _Obviously, Sakamoto-kun. Because of whatever we learn today or tomorrow can helped us in the future. Also, calm down, will you?_

AT: _Yeah, we know. But none of it is really sticking today…_

RS: _I know right. Anyway, hideout after school?_

KK: _Hideout?_

AT: _Where exactly is this "hideout"?_

RS: _The school's rooftop, of course, you guys and sensei._

AT: _Wait. We can still go up there?_

RS: _Yeah, I'll let you guys in. Welp, I'll be waiting, just come on up once school's over._

AT: _Sure._

AK: _Understood._

KK: _Very well._

MA: _We'll see._

RS: _I'm gonna fine you guys and sensei if you're all late!_

After Minato's done seeing and texting messages on his phone to Akira, Ryuji, Ann and Kanakubo-sensei, he discreetly put his phone back into his pocket and resumed listening to Chouno-sensei's teaching.

XXXX

**After school, on the school's rooftop…**

"Looks like we're all here. Mkay, let's get goin' to the Palace!" said Ryuji impatiently to Akira, Ann, Morgana, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei after they gathered and meet up on the rooftop.

"Hold on, it's still too early for us to head into the Palace." said Morgana.

"But why? Don't we just gotta steal that Treasure thingy?" asked Ryuji in confusion to Morgana.

"Don't underestimate the dangers of that place. We need to prepare first." replied Morgana as he scowled at Ryuji.

"Ain't that Persona shit we got enough to deal with it?" said Ryuji as he scowled back at Morgana.

"That's exactly what I mean when I say don't underestimate it. You'll end up dead if you mess up in there. So again, we need to prepare before we head in." said Morgana.

"He right and I agreed with him, Sakamoto-kun. It's dangerous for us to go in without the necessary weapons and medicines." said Minato as he nodded in agreement with Morgana.

"But… how exactly are we supposed to do that?" asked Ann.

"I'm glad you asked, Lady Ann. First we need to find and purchase better equipment for all of you." replied Morgana as he glance and gave a small smile to Ann.

"You talkin' about weapons? I know a kick-ass place!" said Ryuji with a wide grin on his face.

"In that case, you can handle that side of things, Ryuji." said Morgana approvingly to Ryuji. "The only other thing would be stocking up on medicines since fatigue is unavoidable for us in the Palace… Luckily for both me and Akira, we found out and knew about a doctor that works in a clinic in Yongen-Jaya so we'll be going there to purchase some medicines from her later on." added Morgana as he glance at Akira.

"Yeah, that's right." said Akira with a small nod of his head to them. "And what about you, Arisato-senpai? If you don't have anything to do then you can either accompany me and Morgana or Sakamoto-kun to check out the two places that sells weapons and medicines." added Akira to Minato.

"Thanks and as much as I want to accompany either one of you to check the two places out, I can't." said Minato slightly apologetically to them both.

"Huh? Why not, Arisato-senpai?" asked Ryuji in confusion at Minato.

"Yeah. Why can't you, Arisato-kun?" said Kanakubo-sensei.

"Because there's something that I need to do later, something important, Sakamoto-kun, sensei." replied Minato.

"Really? And what's this "important" stuff that you need to do later?" asked Akira slightly suspiciously at Minato (who stay silent and didn't answer his question). "…Fine, don't tell us." sighed Akira.

"Don't be like that, Kurusu-kun. I'm sure he has his reason in not telling us." said Ann as she scowled at Akira.

" _Thank you and you're right, Takamaki-san. I can't tell you guys and sensei about them, not yet, at least_." thought Minato to himself.

"Now that we're all done talking and got that out, Akira and I'll be leaving for Yongen while Ryuji will be leaving for Shibuya now, so meeting adjourned for today!" said Morgana before he and Akira bade farewell to Ann, Ryuji, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei and they left the rooftop and the school before Ann, Ryuji, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei left the rooftop, bade farewell and split up to head back to their class to get their bags.

" _They're on their way and are you ready to see them now, Minato?_ " asked Pharos.

"Yes, I am ready, Pharos." replied Minato as he take out and put on his Buchimaru hoodie jacket before he walked out of the classroom and left the school.


	23. Chapter 23

**Meanwhile, in front of Shujin Academy…**

_"So this school is the place where Aigis sense "Death" is, huh?_ " thought Minako with a concern look on her face as she, Shinjiro, Naoto, Yukari (who's wearing a pink hoodie jacket and dark sunglasses on her face to avoid people recognizing her as Pink Argus), Junpei, Aigis, Ken and Koromaru stands in front of Shujin Academy while they ignored the curious stares and whispers of the Shujin students leaving the school.

"Hey, it'll be fine. We'll be fine because we've been through worse before, isn't it, Minako?" said Shinjiro reassuringly at Minako once he noticed the concern look on her face.

"… Yeah, I know we do, Shinji." said Minako as she glance and smiled at Shinjiro.

"Uh, Ai-chan, are you really sure that "Death" is really here and inside one of the students who comes here?" said Junpei as he glance in disbelief at Aigis as well.

"Yes, I'm sure because I sense that…" said Aigis as she started to nod at Junpei before she fell silent as a worry look appear on her face. "Oh no! Everyone, I just sense that whoever has "Death" inside his or her body have already left the school and he or she is heading towards the subway station now!" added Aigis worriedly to them.

"W-What!?" gasped Yukari with a shock look on her face at Aigis.

"It's heading towards the subway station now!?" gasped Naoto, shocked as well.

"Are you serious, Aigis-san?" said Ken.

"Tch! That could mean that he or she knew about us coming and leave before we could meet!" said Shinjiro with an annoy look on his face.

"Oh hell! Then we need to go after him or her then!" said Junpei anxiously and worriedly to them and they all nodded in unison back to him before they quickly turned and walked away from Shujin Academy in search and pursuit of the student who holds "Death" within.

XXXX

" _Hey, looks like your family and friends have figured out that you gave them the slip and are now coming after you, Minato._ " said Pharos in an amused tone of voice at Minato.

" _Is that so, Pharos?_ " said Minato in amusement back at Pharos as he went into the subway station and take the train to Inokashira Park (with his family and friends doing the same after he did) and after a few minutes, the train arrived and stopped in the station near the park before it open it's doors to let Minato and the other passengers out before Minato make his way out of the station and heading toward the park.

XXXX

"Aigis, can you still sense him or her among these people in this station?" asked Yukari as she glance at Aigis after she and the others stepped out of the train.

"Yes, I do and that person over there is the one that's the new vessel of "Death", Yukari-san." replied Aigis as she raised and pointed her finger at the Buchimaru hoodie guy walking up the stairs out of the station.

"Seriously, Aigis? Are you sure that person wearing such a kiddy panda hoodie is the one who holds "Death" inside him or her?" said Junpei as he glance in disbelief at Aigis.

"Affirmative, Junpei-san." said Aigis as she nodded firmly at Junpei.

"I believed her because Aigis's senses never lies and how dare you say that the hoodie he wears is a kiddy panda hoodie, Junpei! It's actually a cute Buchimaru hoodie, which means he had cute taste!" snapped Minako as she scowled at Junpei for insulting Buchimaru.

"Geez, alright, Mina-tan!" said Junpei as he quickly raised his hands in a surrender manner to Minako.

" _What a moron you are, Stupei._ " thought Yukari as she sighed and shake her head at Junpei before she and the others resumed their pursuit of the Buchimaru hoodie guy out of the station, make their way the people walking and talking around them toward the park before they entered the park together and they stopped when they see the Buchimaru hoodie guy also stopped walking in front of them before the guy turned around, raised his left hand to lowered the hood of his jacket to reveal his face to them, which make Minako, Shinjiro, Naoto, Junpei, Yukari, Aigis and Ken gasped and widened their eyes in complete disbelief, surprise and shock when they saw that the guy is none other than their old sibling, friend and former leader of SEES, Minato Arisato himself.

" _How long has it been since I last saw them after I passed away on the rooftop of Gekkoukan high school on Aigis's lap on Graduation Day and became the Great Seal to keep both Nyx and Erebus apart? I missed them a lot, especially my twin sister and cousin Minako and Naoto… Hold on a minute, why and how is Naoto with them? Guess I'll know why and how from her later and finally, they all look grown up with the exception of Aigis and Koromaru, who still look the same._ " thought Minato nostalgically in his mind (and also in surprise and confusion at seeing Naoto with them) and with a fond smile on his face when he glance at each of them. "Hey, you guys. It's been a while, isn't it? You guys look well." greeted Minato politely to them.

" _Yep, not to mention that your sister Minako-chan looks much more beautiful as an adult, Minato._ " said Pharos naughtily to Minato about Minako (which make Minato mentally rolled his eyes at Pharos).

"M-Minato? Is it really you?" gasped Minako with shock then joy and hopeful looks on her face at seeing Minato being real and alive and standing in front of them instead of dead.

"What the hell?" said Shinjiro with a shock look on his face at Minato.

"Impossible…" said Naoto, shocked as well.

"No freaking way…!" sputtered Junpei.

"How can this be!?" sputtered Ken as well.

"M-Minato-san?" said Aigis, at a loss for words.

"M-Minato-kun? Is it really you?" said Yukari with shock then joy and hopeful looks on her face like Minako as well.

As for Koromaru, he slowly and warily walked up to Minato, circled and sniffed around him for a while before he stopped in front of Minato, let out happy barks then run in a joyful circle around Minato again, which make Minato smiled and chuckle at Koromaru's happy reaction to him before he got down on one knee, stopped Koromaru from running around him and hold out his hand to patted Koromaru's head, which make Koromaru let out a happy whine before he licked Minato's face.

"Hey, Koro-chan. It's nice to see you too." said Minato happily and softly to Koromaru.

"Oh my god. It's really you, Minato! Koromaru proved it!" said Minako with a more joyful look on her face before she covered her mouth with her hands and tears start brimming in her eyes.

"Holy shit! He's alive and he's back! That's awesome and I'm happy for you, Mina-tan!" said Junpei in joy and relief for Minako.

"Hold on a minute, you guys. How is it possible for him to come back alive and why didn't he contact us and tell us about it earlier?" said Shinjiro with a suspicious look on his face at Minato.

"Shinjiro-san has a point. I've some questions for him to see that if he's really the Minato Arisato that we all knew or if he's someone else who's a spitting image of him." said Naoto in agreement with Shinjiro.

"You two have your points and if he's back and alive then doesn't it mean that Nyx will return and about to end the world like before? And how is this possible? It's just so hard to believe, right, Aigis-san?" said Ken concernly and quietly to Aigis.

"You're right, Ken-san. We came here because we saw and sense that…" said Aigis before Minato quickly raised his hand to cut off her words.

"Yeah, I know that some of you guys are feeling very suspicious about my return while others are shock, surprise and happy when they saw me alive right here and now. How about this, I'll explain and tell you guys on how I've been freed from my duty and brought back from the dead and also ask me questions that only Minato Arisato knew about." suggested Minato calmly to them. "And after that, I've some questions of my own to ask you all too. How does that sound to you guys?" added Minato curiously to them.

"Sounds good to me, buddy." said Junpei as he nodded his head.

"An exemplary suggestion from you. Very well then, let's begin the questioning." said Naoto as she nodded in approval at Minato's suggestion to them before she and the others commenced their questions that only Minato Arisato know about one by one to him and he answer each of their questions correctly until they're done with questioning him.

"…So, it's thanks to Elizabeth freeing you from your duty by using the strong bonds that you establish with Minako and your friends to take your place as the Great Seal, reviving and sent you back to the real world, huh?" said Naoto.

"Yes, that's right, she did, Naoto." said Minato as he nodded at Naoto.

"Elizabeth-san did, huh? Then we're glad and grateful to her for managing to find a way to freed you from being the Seal and we're sorry to hear that "Death" is sealed inside you once again, Minato-san. Even so, welcome back." said Aigis as she smiled in joy and relief at Minato.

"Yeah, what Aigis said, Minato. Welcome back and… I don't care that "Death" is inside you once again because I really missed you very much…" said Minako before she start shedding tears of joy and relief at Minato.

"Minako…" said Shinjiro as he watched Minako crying tears of joy and relief at Minato returning to them before he quickly take out and gave her a handkerchief to wipe her tears (which Minako gratefully took from him and wipe her eyes).

"Yeah, I can see that you do, Minako. And I really missed you and the others too." said Minato as he smiled softly at Minako before he glance at Naoto. "Now that I'm done answering all of your questions, it's you guys turns to tell me about what I miss while doing my duty as the Great Seal." added Minato firmly to Naoto, who nodded before she proceed to said and explain the tough ordeals that they've gone through after Minato gave up his life to became the Great Seal and Minato listen to Naoto's explanation without interrupting until she's done saying and explaining everything to Minato.

After Naoto's done in saying and explaining everything to Minato, Minato then spend the next few minutes talking to them and knowing that they're all doing well (including Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Fuuka Yamagishi and Naoto's friends in Inaba and Tokyo) and had stable jobs of their own.

Once they're done talking, Minako ask and told Minato on whether he wanted to come stay with them in Kirijo manor in Ikebukuro, he politely declined her offer and told her that he's staying in an apartment with the Niijima sisters and also told her that he wanted to finish his third year in Shujin Academy and they all nodded before Minato promised that he'll come visit and see them again before he take out his phone to exchange contact infos with them, bade farewell and walked away from them and the park and he decided to have some beef bowl dinner at Ore No Beko shop before he went home.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, in Niijima apartment…**

"Welcome back, Arisato-kun. Do you want to have some dinner?" greeted Makoto coolly to Minato from the living room once he came back.

"Yeah, I'm back and no thank you because I already had dinner before coming back, Niijima-san." greeted Minato coolly back to her.

"Is that so?" said Makoto.

"Yes, that so. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading to my room now. Good night, Niijima-san." said Minato even more coolly to Makoto before he walked down the hallway toward his room, went in and closed the door behind him.

Makoto watched Minato went into his room and closed the door behind him for another few seconds before she sighed, stood up from the couch, left the living room and down the hallway toward her own room before she went in and closed the door behind her and fell asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**The next day, in the Kirijo manor in Ikebukuro…**

After Minako, Shinjiro, Aigis, Yukari, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru woke up from their slumbers, had their baths and breakfast and as they make their way downstairs and into the living room, they saw that Kikuno's already waiting for them inside the living room and they exchange morning greetings with each other before Kikuno turned on the huge flat-screen TV in the living room and she and the others waited for Mitsuru to showed up on TV and a few seconds later, an image of Mitsuru sitting inside her office showed up on TV.

"Hello, Mitsuru." said Kikuno politely to Mitsuru.

"Good morning, Mitsuru-san." said Aigis politely to Mitsuru as well while the others nodded in unison and Koromaru let out a bark at her.

" _Hello and good morning to you all. So how goes the mission in searching for the one who became the new vessel of "Death"? Did you all find whoever it is, get it out of him or her and managed to defeat or sealed it away?_ " said Mitsuru as she glance at each of them.

"Well, we did but…" said Minako hesitantly to Mitsuru.

" _But what, Minako?_ " said Mitsuru.

"Why don't you let me do the explaining to Mitsuru, Minako-san?" said Kikuno as she glance at Minako (who nodded in agreement at her) before she glance back at Mitsuru. "Actually, Mitsuru-san, as they do their mission in searching for "Death", they found it hidden itself inside a student attending Shujin Academy and they told me that they were very surprise and shock when they see who the student that harbor "Death" is." explained Kikuno calmly to Mitsuru.

" _So you're telling me that "Death" choose a student as it's new vessel and what do you mean by they were very surprise and shock when they see who the student is, Kikuno?_ " asked Mitsuru in confusion to Kikuno.

"It's true that we are surprise and shock because you wouldn't believe who we saw, Mitsuru-san! The student who harbors "Death" inside his body is Minato Arisato, Mina-tan's twin brother, our friend and leader of SEES! He's alive and he's back!" said Junpei joyfully to Mitsuru before Kikuno could say anything to her.

" _…W-What did you just say, Junpei? Did you just say that Minato Arisato, Minako's twin brother is back and alive and is once again harboring "Death" inside him like before? That can't be possible!_ " said Mitsuru in disbelief and shock tone of voice at Junpei.

"He's telling the truth, Mitsuru-san. All of us were there and we all saw him really alive and back and if you still find it hard to believe, my cousin Naoto asked him many questions that only Minato Arisato knew and he answer all of them flawlessly and without any hesitation." said Minako firmly at Mitsuru.

"Minako's right, Mitsuru. At first we were waiting for him in front of Shujin Academy but somehow he knew that we were waiting for him and decided to lure us to Inokashira Park and that's when we see him reveal himself being alive and talking to us for real." said Shinjiro in agreement with Minako.

"Shinji…" said Minako as she glance happily at Shinjiro.

" _You all are really telling the truth about Minato Arisato? He's truly alive and back and is once again Death's vessel? But then did any of you asked him who is it that brought him back from the dead and what about Nyx and Erebus, if he's back and alive then doesn't it means that there's nothing stopping them from meeting and ending the world?_ " said Mitsuru grimly to them.

"Oh, about that, senpai… You don't have to worry about it because Nyx is still sealed away so Erebus is still unable to freed her from her prison and it's that velvet room chick, Elizabeth's who somehow found a way to bring him back alive." said Junpei happily and reassuringly to Mitsuru.

"Yeah. So there's no need for you to worry about the world coming to an end soon because Minato assured us that it won't happen." said Yukari reassuringly to Mitsuru as well.

" _Is that so, Yukari, Junpei? Well, that's wonderful news for me to hear from you all then. So now that there's no danger of Nyx and Erebus bringing forth the Fall since they're still sealed away, you all may come back now and bring Minato Arisato back with you all._ " said Mitsuru.

"Of course we'll return but Minato-san told us that he's not coming with us because he intend to stay in Shujin Academy to finish his third year since he wasn't able to before he "died" years ago, Mitsuru-san." said Aigis.

" _He said that to you all?... But now that you mention it, it's true that he "died" before he could get into his third year of high school so I guess he can stay and finish it before he can come back._ " said Mitsuru.

"In that case, I want to stay here with him because he's my brother, Mitsuru-san!" said Minako firmly to Mitsuru.

"I too want to stay here with Minato-san because he's my highest priority like before, Mitsuru-san." said Aigis firmly to Mitsuru as well.

"If that's what you 2 want then count me in as well." said Shinjiro.

"Count me in too." said Ken.

"Are the 4 of you serious?" said Junpei as he glance in disbelief and shock at Minako, Aigis, Shinjiro and Ken wanting to stay while Kikuno let out a small sigh.

" _…Fine, very well then, Minako, Aigis, Shinjiro and Ken, the four of you can stay in my manor in Ikebukuro, Tokyo with Minato until he finish his third year of high school and graduate while Junpei, Yukari and Koromaru return to Kyoto. Also looks like I need to do some paperworks to transfer you from Gekkoukan high school and into the school that Minato's currently attending._ " sighed Mitsuru.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay here with him, Mitsuru-san." said Aigis thankfully to Mitsuru.

"Yes, thank you." said Minako thankfully to Mitsuru as well before they and Mitsuru bade farewell to each other, watched as the TV screen turned black before they left the living room and left the manor to do their own things.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, in Shujin Academy…**

"Good morning, Makoto-san and Minato-kun." greeted Haru politely to both Minato and Makoto when she saw them on their way to school together in front of her and Hanzo.

"Yeah, good morning, you two." greeted Hanzo politely to both of them as well before both he and Haru pick up their paces until Hanzo walked beside Minato and Haru walked beside Makoto.

"Good morning, Hanzo-kun and Haru-san." Minato greeted back to them both while Makoto smiled and nodded to them.

As Minato, Makoto, Hanzo and Haru approach the school's gate after they greeted each other, both Minato and Hanzo saw with annoy looks on their faces at Kamoshida as he stands outside the school gates and greeting the students with a fake, wide grin on his face.

"Tch, seeing him standing outside the school and greeting the students really annoys me a lot." grumbled Minato as he scowled at Kamoshida.

"Just ignored him, Minato-kun." said Hanzo calmly to Minato before they resumed walking toward the school and Kamoshida immediately turned to glance and smirk smugly at them when he saw them approaching of the corner of his eyes.

"Good morn…" Kamoshida started to greet them only to be cut off by Kanakubo-sensei's voice.

"Good morning, all of you!" greeted Kanakubo-sensei politely to them as he showed up beside Kamoshida.

"Good morning, Kanakubo-sensei." greeted Minato, Hanzo, Haru and Makoto politely to Kanakubo-sensei before both Makoto and Haru greeted politely to Kamoshida while both Minato and Hanzo choose to stay silent then they walked past both Kamoshida and Kanakubo and went into Shujin.

"Hm? Why are you here, Kanakubo?" asked Kamoshida suspiciously at Kanakubo.

"Why, you asked? I'm here to relieved you of your duty to stand here and greet each students with the principal's permission, of course." replied Kanakubo-sensei calmly to Kamoshida.

"Is that so, Kanakubo? I find that hard to believe." said Kamoshida as he crossed his arms.

"Then why don't you go and confirm on whether I lie or not to principal Kobayakawa since you don't believe the words of a fellow teacher, Kamoshida." said Kanakubo as he also crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes coldly at Kamoshida (which make him winced and gulped in nervousness and fear at the cold look in Kanakubo's eyes for a few seconds).

"Tch, fine then." said Kamoshida before he turned and almost stalked into Shujin while Kanakubo watched him went into Shujin with a smug smirk on his face before he began doing his job in greeting the students.


	25. Chapter 25

After Minato, Hanzo, Haru and Makoto stepped into Shujin, both Hanzo and Haru went up to the rooftop while Makoto turned left and went to the student council room, leaving Minato to go to the classroom alone but as he went up to the second floor, he stopped when he see Akira standing outside a room with his homeroom teacher, Kawakami-sensei before he saw Kamoshida came out of the room with Kasumi, the girl who had lunch together with him in the small resting area in the courtyard a few days ago and another stern-looking male teacher.

"I see you're already getting on top of the problem I mention to you this morning, Kawakami-sensei! I appreciate the support." said Kamoshida as he glance and smiled proudly at Kawakami-sensei.

"Yeah." said Kawakami-sensei as she nodded at Kamoshida.

"Hello, we meet again and thank you for your help." said Kasumi gratefully to Akira (who nodded to her).

"Oh? You know this guy, Yoshizawa?" asked Kamoshida as he glance at Kasumi.

"Yes, he lend me a helping hand earlier." replied Kasumi as she glance and nodded at Kamoshida.

"I think it's best that you steer clear of any interaction with this one for the consideration and sake of your future, Yoshizawa. Remember the discussion that we had earlier? There are a number of students in this school you shouldn't get involved with… this one's at the top of the list." said Kamoshida with a fake concern look on his face at Kasumi about Akira.

" _Say what!? How can he say such untrue words about Kurusu-kun to Yoshizawa-san and right in front of him and his homeroom teacher too!_ " thought Minato as he glared at Kamoshida.

"Oh, you mean he's the delinquent transfer student…?" said Kasumi as she glance in disbelief and shock at Akira as the rumoured delinquent transfer student.

" _No, he's not, Yoshizawa-san! Looks like I need to step in and set things straight somehow._ " thought Minato before he approach them. "Excuse me, do you always make it your habit to say such untrue things about Kurusu-kun to other students even though he hasn't done any of the things that delinquents do since he transfer here, Kamoshida-sensei?" said Minato coldly at Kamoshida.

" _Oh, it's him again!_ " thought Kasumi with a surprise look on her face at Minato.

"How dare you say that to Kamoshida-sensei, Arisato! Mind your own business!" snapped the stern-looking teacher angrily at Minato (who ignored him).

"It's fine, Yamauchi. Also, I'm just being concern and give Yoshizawa-san a warning to watch herself around this delinquent, Arisato." said Kamoshida calmly to Minato.

"Oh really? Like how you're "concern" about Suzui-san before she try to commit suicide?" said Minato more coldly at Kamoshida.

"Huh? What does he mean by that?" asked Kasumi as she glance in confusion at Kamoshida (who ignored her and narrowed his eyes at Minato).

"What happened to Shiho Suzui is a terrible accident and I'd nothing to do with it. So stop making wrong assumption about me, Arisato." said Kamoshida.

"Yeah, you heard him, Arisato!" said the stern-looking teacher named Yamauchi in agreement with Kamoshida.

"Do you smell that, sensei?" said Minato as he start sniffing the air and ignored Yamauchi again.

"Smell what?" said Kamoshida in confusion at Minato.

"You mean you can't smell it, sensei? The strong stench of lies and bullshit emanating out of you right now?" said Minato in disbelief at Kamoshida, which make him and Yamauchi narrowed their eyes even more at Minato, make both Kawakami-sensei and Kasumi had shock looks on their face and make Akira had an awed look on his face.

" _Oh, burn!_ " said Pharos in amusement at Minato insulting Kamoshida.

"Why you…" said Kamoshida angrily at Minato.

"What's going on here? Hm, are you harassing the students again, Kamoshida?" said Kanakubo-sensei as he approach and stopped behind Minato.

"No, I did not! This student of yours, Arisato, insults me. You should disciplined him on his rude behaviour to me later, Kanakubo." said Kamoshida as he glance coldly at Kanakubo.

"Sure. If I see him do any bad things to others, Kamoshida." said Kanakubo-sensei calmly at Kamoshida.

"Humph." said Kamoshida as he look away from Kanakubo-sensei.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversations, but I need to use the guidance office." said Kawakami-sensei.

"Oh, pardon me. We should be going too-don't want to get in the way of Kawakami guiding this delinquent and don't you forget to discipline Arisato, Kanakubo." said Kamoshida as he glance at Kasumi before he and the other teacher walked away from Kawakami-sensei, Akira, Minato and Kanakubo.

"Asshole." thought Kanakubo as he watched Kamoshida and Yamauchi walked away from them with an annoy look on his face.

"… Please, excuse us." said Kasumi before she bowed to Kawakami-sensei, Akira and Minato before she walked away too.

"After you, Kurusu-kun." said Kawakami-sensei to Akira.

"Sure, sensei." said Akira as he nodded at Kawakami-sensei before he followed Kawakami-sensei into the guidance office room while Kanakubo-sensei and Minato went to the classroom.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, inside the classroom…**

Minato felt his phone vibrating and he discreetly pull it out to see and read the incoming messages under his desk.

RS: _So I saw Kamoshida at the school gate this early morning. He was just standing there looking at me with this shit-eating grin on his face._

AT: _Ugh, that's annoying… He was probably mocking you._

RS: _Honestly, seeing that got me more fired up about this._

AT: _Yeah, I'm worried about Shiho, but I want to concentrate on our operation too. And I won't let myself get exhausted like last time._

KK: _Good. Make sure that you don't, Takamaki-san._

AT: _Of course, sensei._

MA: _Yeah, we know, Takamaki-san. We're doing this not just for Suzui-san but also for the other students that he abused in this school._

RS: _The board meeting's on May 2nd, right? We just gotta take care of him before then._

AK: _Yes and we will. I'm ready for this. Are you guys ready too?_

MA: _I'm ready._

KK: _I'm ready too, Kurusu-kun._

RS: _Same goes for me._

AT: _Me too! I'll do my best. No going in without me, OK?_

RS: _Yeah, you better let us know if you're going into the Palace._

AK: _Of course. See you guys and sensei on the rooftop after school later._

After Minato is done in messaging back to Akira, Ann, Ryuji and Kanakubo-sensei he put his phone back into his blazer pocket and resumed listening to the Inui-sensei's lecture.

XXXX

**A few hours later, on the rooftop…**

After the school ended for the day, Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, Kanakubo-sensei and Minato stepped out of their classrooms, went up to the rooftop and Ann, Ryuji and Morgana sat on one of the tables and chairs while Akira, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei decided to stand near them and they began their discussion.

"I hope you all understand that our time limit is May 2nd." said Morgana warningly to them.

"Yeah, we know, Morgana." said Minato as he nodded at Morgana.

"We basically just have to go to that castle and steal the Treasure from Kamoshida, right?" said Ann.

"But wait. What even is a Treasure? I wanna know that before we head in and do anything." asked Ryuji.

"A Treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler's distorted desires. In other words, it's the core of the Palace. Once we steal it, the Palace will crumble… I think. Having said all that, even I don't know what Kamoshida's Treasure is going to be." Morgana answer and explain to Ryuji.

"I see. Thanks for the explanation, Morgana." said Minato with a small nod of his head to Morgana.

"And where can we find it?" asked Ann.

"There's no way of knowing that until we go in and find out. But if I had to guess, I'd say he has it locked up somewhere in the depths of the Palace." replied Morgana.

"Makes us wonder where he'd put it and locked it up." said Kanakubo-sensei with a pondering look on his face about Kamoshida's treasure.

"Eh. I think I get it now. We just gotta find the Treasure, yeah?" said Ryuji.

"Pretty much. There's just a lot we won't know until we go in… In any case, our objective is to find the Treasure's location somewhere in the Palace. Make sure we go about this with time to spare so we can avoid any unforeseen circumstances… I expect great things from you guys." said Morgana.

"Right back at you, Morgana and the rest of you too. Well then, let us go now." said Akira to them as he take and hold out his phone and they all nodded to him before he activated the Metaverse Navigator app on it and all of them felt and saw their surrounding started to warped and turned purple before they soon found themselves standing outside the drawbridge of the castle and their uniforms change into their alternate outfits.

"But daaamn…" said Skull as he take a slow and appreciative look at Ann's red suit outfit.

"Hm? What's up?" said Ann in an oblivious tone of voice to Skull (which make him stop checking her out).

"Isn't it obvious, Takamaki-san? He's totally checking out your outfit and stop looking at her with that perverted look on your face, Sakamoto-kun!" said Kanakubo-sensei to Ann (which make her had a surprise then scowling look on her face at Skull for checking her outfit) before he scolded Skull (which make him glared at Kanakubo-sensei).

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. We should choose a code name for you and sensei too." said Skull, changing the subject.

"A code name?" said Ann in confusion to Skull.

"For me and Takamaki-san?" said Kanakubo-sensei, confused as well.

"That's right, Takamaki-san, sensei. Each one of us have our own code names. Mine is Joker, Sakamoto-kun is Skull, Morgana is Mona and Minato-senpai is Seraph." said Joker as he pointed at himself then at Skull, Mona and Seraph.

"Yeah, that's right. What he said, Takamaki-san." said Seraph as he nodded his head in agreement to Joker.

"Judging by your outfit…" said Mona as he crossed his arms and think about what kind of code name for Ann.

"I mean, she's got that tail and stuff, so…" said Skull before he trailed off and glance at both Joker and Seraph. "Whadda you two think, Joker, Seraph?" asked Skull.

"How about "Kitty Girl" or "Catwoman"?" suggested Joker as he glance teasingly at Ann (who recoil in surprise at Joker for the 2 code names suggested for her).

"You can't be serious." said Kanakubo-sensei as he scowled at Joker.

"Wait! Are those 2 what you all are going to call me from now on!? I am SO not down with those two code names!" yell Ann as she shake her head in denial at the 2 code names that Joker suggested for her.

"Then what about "Feline" or "Little Cat"?" suggested Seraph.

"Nope, I don't like those 2 code names either." said Ann as she shake her head at Seraph's code names for her too.

"What do you wanna be called, then?" asked Skull.

"Um, something better than just those cat codenames from Joker and Seraph…" replied Ann sullenly as she raised and placed her hand under her chin in thinking. "Maybe… "Panther"? That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?" suggested Ann as she glance at them.

"Huh? Why?" said Skull in confusion to Ann.

"Cause it sounds more… ferocious?" said Ann.

"In a certain way, it does, Takamaki-san." said Joker with a small nod of his head to her.

"But it's still a cat though, a big black cat." said Seraph with a smirk on his face.

"She's a cougar…!" said Mona as he smiled happily and dreamily at Panther.

"Don't call me that!" snapped Panther as she glance in slight embarrassment at Mona calling her a cougar before she glance back at Joker, Seraph, Skull and Kanakubo-sensei (who shake his head at Mona).

"Alright. Now it's your turn, sensei. Any codenames that you can think up for yourself?" said Skull as he glance at Kanakubo-sensei.

"Hm, not really, Sakamoto-kun." said Kanakubo-sensei as he shake his head at Skull.

"How about "Knight" since his outfit is a knight outfit?" suggested Mona.

"Nah, sounds a little too basic or pedestrian, Mona." said Kanakubo-sensei as he shake his head at Mona.

"Then how about "Paladin", sensei?" suggested Joker.

"Paladin, huh? I like it." said Kanakubo-sensei as he nodded at Joker.

"Excuse me, you all! More importantly, Kamoshida…!" Panther reminded them.

"Oh, right. Let's go, start fresh and get going!" said Skull excitedly to them.

"It's game time for us from this point forward. I'll teach you guys the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go." said Mona to them before he, Seraph, Paladin, Skull and Panther walked forward toward the opened ventilation shaft.

As Joker was about to follow them, he stopped when he saw a velvet blue cell door suddenly appear to his right and with Justine (who's holding a clipboard) standing next to the door before the door suddenly opened outward while Seraph stopped when he heard and felt the familiar presence of the velvet room make it's appearance behind him, turned around and saw it too.

" _Huh? What the heck?_ " thought Joker as he glance in confusion at the opened door and Justine, unaware that Seraph had turned around and saw what he saw too.

"My master would like a word with you. Step into your cell, please, Inmate." said Justine coolly to Joker (who nodded before he walked into the velvet room and his clothes immediately change into his prisoner outfit as he glance at both Igor and Caroline).

Right after Joker walked through the velvet blue cell door and Justine closed the door behind him, she then turned to glance at Seraph.

"Greetings to you, one of the previous guests of Elizabeth and my master, Minato Arisato. My name is Justine." said Justine as she bowed and introduced herself in cool politeness to Seraph.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too, Justine. Are you related to Elizabeth, how is she doing now and are you the one that's going to assist my successor like how Elizabeth assist me many years ago?" asked Seraph curiously to Justine.

"Yes, you're right. I'm related to Elizabeth and so does my twin sister, Caroline. I don't know how she's doing or where she is now because she's no longer in the velvet room and yes, Caroline and I are assisting the inmate in his power and his rehabilitation." replied Justine coolly to Seraph.

"I see. Thanks for telling me about it, Justine." said Seraph as he nodded to Justine (who nodded back) before he watched her opened the door, went into the room and closed the door behind her. After a few seconds, the door opened again and Seraph saw both Joker and Justine walked out of the room before the door closed again just as Mona, Skull and Panther approach and stopped near him and Joker.

"Hey, is something wrong, Joker, Seraph? The 2 of you were just standing around all of a sudden." said Mona concernly to both Joker and Seraph as he, Paladin, Skull and Panther approach them both.

"Yeah, care to explain why, both of you?" asked Paladin curiously to both Joker and Seraph.

"It's nothing, Paladin." said Seraph as he shake his head at Paladin (who let out a sigh at Minato).

"Huh? Seraph and I did?" said Joker as he glance in confusion to Mona. " _They can't see the cell door of the velvet room near me, except for Seraph?_ " thought Joker in his mind.

"Why're you spacin' out like that?… It's kinda hard to tell what you're thinkin' sometimes." said Skull as he scratch his head in slight exasperation at Joker.

"It's nothing, Skull. So why don't we drop it?" said Seraph.

"If you say so, Seraph. And let's just say that Joker's a man filled with mysteries. We're counting on you, Joker!" said Mona.

"Right. Let's do this!" said Joker determinedly to them before they turned around, walked toward, jumped and crawl through the opened ventilation shaft one by one and entered the castle.


	26. Chapter 26

**Inside Kamoshida's Palace…**

After Joker, Mona, Seraph, Skull, Panther and Paladin jumped and crawl through the opened ventilation shaft and entered the castle, they spend quite a long while in going down dozens of hallways and staircases, finding hidden key items like books and eyeballs to unlock doors and hidden rooms (both Panther and Paladin were furious when they saw that one of the hidden room inside a library had dozens of pictures of Shiho hanging on the walls before Paladin proceed to take down all of Shiho's pictures, found and dump the pictures and also a candle into a fire-proof bucket to burned the pictures, which make Panther gave Paladin a grateful smile for getting rid of Shiho's pictures), opening and getting the treasures, items and money from treasure chests scattered in different corners in the castle while fighting and defeating dozens of shadows along the way (while Seraph watched with surprise then intrigue look on his face at how Joker talk and negotiate with some of the shadows to become his persona or giving them either rare money or items), found 3 different rooms that had 3 tall and glowing red plant things with 3 light brown-coloured skulls on the 3 plant things and Joker pick them up before the 3 brown-coloured skulls start spinning then merged together and became a greyish blue Crystal of Lust before they finally reached and entered a huge throne room and they soon saw Kamoshida and some of his knights is also in the throne room with them from the second floor balcony.

"How have any of you not captured any of the intruders yet!?" yell Kamoshida as he glared at the knights.

"We apologize, my liege!" said one of the knights apologetically to Kamoshida (who keep on yelling angrily at them).

"I bet he'd never imagine that we're in the same room as him. Come on, let's keep moving…" urged Mona to them before they swiftly and quietly snuck their way down the balcony toward the closed door at the center of the balcony, opened and went through it and they approach and came to a stop in front of another closed door.

"This sturdy-lookin' door' pretty promisin'. Let's head inside!" said Skull before he and Paladin pushed open the door and they went into the room and saw that the room is filled with dozens of silver and gold coins, jewels, vases, chalices and a large transparent ball of energy floating in thin air in the middle of the room.

"Whoa, what is this place!? Holy shit!" said Skull as he look around at the gold and silver treasures lying on the ground around them with an awed and shock look on his face.

"Isn't it obvious, Skull? This place is the treasure room since there's many gold and silver treasures lying around us." said Seraph as he rolled his eyes at Skull.

"Uh, o-of course, I knew that, Seraph! That means that Treasure thing gotta be in here somewhere!" said Skull.

" _Uh huh. Sure you do, Sakamoto-kun._ " thought Paladin sarcastically in his mind at Skull.

"Hey, Mona, what's this transparent floating thing in the air?" asked Panther as she, Joker, Skull, Mona, Seraph and Paladin glance up at the transparent floating thing.

"Hehe… That's the Treasure, Panther. We finally found it." said Mona to Panther as he jumped onto a golden vase, glance up and grinned happily at it.

" _So this transparent floating thing in the air is the Treasure, huh?_ " thought Seraph as he glance curiously up at it.

"Are you sure that cloudy thing's the Treasure, Mona?" asked Joker skeptically to Mona.

"Just hold on a second, Joker, I was planning on telling you guys more once we made it this far." said Mona as he turned to glance at Joker. "Simply finding the Treasure isn't enough. We'll need to make it materialize before we can steal it." explained Mona.

"Whaddya mean…?" asked Skull in confusion to Mona.

"Desires have no physical form by nature. Hence, we'll first need to make the real person aware that their desire are in fact a Treasure. Once they're conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will finally show itself." explained Mona even more to them.

"I see." said Paladin with a small nod of his head.

"But how do we do that?" asked Panther.

"We warn them. Tell them, "We're going to steal your heart"." replied Mona.

"So we're gonna send a calling card!? That's totally what a phantom thief would do!" said Skull excitedly.

"Once we do that, the Treasure will appear for certain!… I think!" said Mona excitedly then unsurely to them.

"That again…?" muttered Skull as he shake his head at Mona.

"Sounds like a reasonable point and plan, I think it's worth a try, Skull." said Seraph.

"…Fine, I guess, Seraph." sighed Skull.

"Thank you for agreeing with me, Seraph and now our infiltration route is secure. All that's left now is to pumped out a calling card in reality, then come back to the Palace to take the Treasure!" said Mona thankfully to Seraph before he glance at Joker.

"This is it, huh?" asked Panther as she glance at Joker as well.

"Yeah, it took us a while but we're here now and we'll do this." replied Joker as he glance and nodded determinedly at each of his teammates and a teacher.

"That's the spirit, Joker!" said Mona proudly to Joker. "Once we sent out the calling card, there will be no turning back. Just let me know when you're ready. We'll head back to our hideout and send out that calling card!"

"Right, Mona. Let's leave now, everyone." said Joker to them and they nodded to him before they turned around and left the room.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, on the rooftop of Shujin Academy…**

"All right! All that's left now is to send out the calling card and take Kamoshida's heart!" said Morgana.

"Couldn't we have just sent one at the beginnin' of all this…?" grumbled Ryuji tiredly at Morgana.

"It's not that simple. A Treasure won't stay materialized forever. Once the impression is gone, the Treasure will disappear. I think it'll last around a day, at most." explained Morgana sternly to Ryuji.

"The hell…? That's like almost no time at all…" said Ryuji irritatedly at Morgana.

"That means we need to do it quick before the Treasure disappear, Sakamoto-kun." said Kanakubo-sensei.

"I know, sensei. Anyways, we can send a callin' card right now, yeah? Let's do it and steal that bastard's heart!" added Ryuji to them.

"You've got to be kidding me, Sakamoto-kun. We're all very exhausted from our ordeal in Kamoshida's Palace so there's no way we're going to send the calling card to him now! Let's sent it to him tomorrow after we had our rest today, alright?" said Akira tiredly and sternly to Ryuji.

"He's right, Sakamoto-kun. Even you and Takamaki-san looked tired too." said Minato calmly to them.

"…Fine, then. You're both right, Kurusu, senpai. We're all pretty tired now." said Ryuji as he nodded in agreement to both Akira and Minato before they get up, left the rooftop and left the school to head home.

XXXX

**Meanwhile, inside a police station in Shibuya…**

"Excuse me, are you Goro Akechi-kun, the one who's the second coming of Detective Prince?" asked Naoto as she glance at Goro after she stepped into the police station.

"Indeed I am. And you are…?" replied Goro as he turned to glance at Naoto only to widened his eyes in surprise for a few seconds due to how similar Naoto looks is with Minato. " _She looks quite similar to Minato-san. I wonder…_ " thought Goro curiously to himself.

"I'm Naoto Shirogane and is there something on my face, Akechi-kun?" said Naoto concernly to Goro (which broke him out of his wayward thoughts).

"Oh, nothing and sorry about that and it's a honor to meet you, my predecessor and the first Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane-san. What brings you here, Shirogane-san?" said Goro as he smile warmly and hold out his left hand toward Naoto for a handshake.

"Likewise and nice to meet you too, Akechi-kun. The reason why I'm here is to help you out with those mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns cases that's been plaguing Japan for the past 2 years." said Naoto as she shook hands with Goro.

"I see. In that case, I accept your help with the cases. Come this way, Shirogane-san." said Goro before he gestured for Naoto to follow him into a room to talk more about the cases and she did.

XXXX

**The next day, on the rooftop of Shujin Academy after school…**

After class is over, Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Minato, Morgana left their classrooms while Kanakubo-sensei left the faculty office, meet up and make their way up the stairs to the school's rooftop together to begin their meeting and discussion of making and sending the calling card to Kamoshida.

"Tomorrow's finally the day." said Minato.

"Yeah, I'm excited and looking forward to tomorrow." said Ryuji.

"So we send the calling card in the morning… and carry out the plan by the end of the day, right?" asked Ann.

"That's right and that means we have to do it ASAP." replied Akira as he nodded to Ann.

"Correct. The effect won't last that long… Are you worried?" replied Morgana before he asked Ann a question.

"Heh. Waited long enough." replied Ann.

"Soon he'll pay for what he did to you, Suzui-san and those poor male and female members of the volleyball team." said Minato.

"Yeah, finally." said Kanakubo-sensei.

"Perfect." said Morgana as he nodded to them.

"We're going to pull this off, no matter what!" said Ann determinedly to them.

"Well then, which among us is going to write the card?" asked Akira as he glance at them.

"Leave it to me, Kurusu!" replied Ryuji before the others could say anything.

"You, Sakamoto-kun?" said Kanakubo-sensei in disbelief at Ryuji.

"Why?" said Ann as she glance dubiously at Ryuji.

"Why…? Why wouldn't it be me!?" said Ryuji as he scowled at both Kanakubo-sensei and Ann.

"Because this is important. Are you sure you can handle the pressure?" said Ann as she furrowed her brows at Ryuji.

"I must agree with Lady Ann." said Morgana as he scratch his ear with his paw.

"Wow, you two and Kanakubo-sensei really think he can't do it, huh? At least give him the chance to try, Morgana, Takamaki-san." said Minato as he sweatdropped at Kanakubo-sensei, Morgana and Ann for doubting Ryuji.

"Hm, very well then, Arisato-kun." said Kanakubo-sensei as he nodded at Minato.

"Oh, come on, you two and thanks for saying that to me and for giving me a chance to try, senpai and sensei! I really wanna get him good! Lemme write it… C'mon, please?" said Ryuji gratefully to both Minato and Kanakubo-sensei before he glance and pleaded to Akira to let him write the calling card.

"Fine then, Sakamoto-kun." sighed Akira as he gave a small nod to Ryuji.

"Yeah, I got this! Thank you, Kurusu!" said Ryuji as he grinned excitedly at him.

"Hey, are you sure about this…? If he find out our identities, all the work we do will be for nothing…" said Ann in a warning tone of voice to Ryuji.

"I know! I know!" said Ryuji unconcernly to Ann's warning words.

"All right, then! Tomorrow it is! You all better not slack off on this." said Morgana as he glance at each of them.

"Don't worry, we won't, Morgana." said Minato reassuringly to Morgana.

"Well then, meeting adjourned. Let's head home now." said Akira to them before they turned around, left the rooftop and the school and head home in anticipation for tomorrow.


	27. Chapter 27

**The next day…**

"Good morning, Minato-kun and Makoto-san." greeted Hanzo politely to both Minato and Makoto once he and Haru see them stepped out of the train into the station.

"Good morning." greeted Haru politely to them as well.

"Morning to you two, Hanzo-kun and Haru-san." greeted Minato politely back to both Hanzo and Haru (while Makoto nodded in silence at them) before they walked out of the station and head toward Shujin Academy together with the other students and went into the school. Once Minato, Makoto, Hanzo and Haru stepped into the school and turned to their right, they saw several students and Ann standing and talking amongst themselves in front of 2 bulletin boards.

"Hm? Why are the students standing there and talking amongst themselves in front of the bulletin boards for?" said Haru to Hanzo, Minato and Makoto with a confused look on her face.

"I don't know, Haru. I'm sure whatever it is they're looking or talking about has nothing to do with us. Come on, we should check out the crops on the rooftop before we head to our class." said Hanzo as he shook his head at Haru before he and Haru turned and went up to the rooftop, with Makoto following behind them to head toward the student council room while Minato turned and walked toward Ann.

"Hey, Takamaki-san. What're you and the others looking at on the board?" asked Minato after he greeted Ann.

"Morning, Arisato-senpai. Why don't you take a look yourself?" replied Ann without looking at Minato and he glance and saw dozens of red calling cards with childish logos and small pasted on words on them were pinned on the board.

" _Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust. We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't talk and fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts"_. said Minato before he trailed off into silence with a deadpan look on his face.

" _…Wow. Ryuji-kun really make and pinned a lot of these cards on the board for Kamoshida but still, I was expecting better-looking logos instead of such childish-looking ones from him and luckily Makoto-san, Hanzo-kun and Haru-san already left to do their own things earlier and didn't see these cards on the board._ " added Minato to himself before both he and Ann turned around and noticed both Akira and Ryuji standing together near some tables and chairs leaning against the wall a few feet away and they approach and stopped near them.

"Well, what do you two think? Not bad, huh? I look up a bunch of similar stuff online for reference." asked Ryuji as he smiled a little smugly at them.

"Um… Yeah… I know what you wanted to say, but it sounded like an idiot trying to be an adult." said Ann flatly to Ryuji.

"Your logo's a little lacking, too." said Morgana as he popped out of Akira's bag and glance disappointedly at Ryuji.

"Yeah, they look childish." said Akira in agreement with Morgana.

"OK, y'two know what? Th-That ain't true!" protested Ryuji uncomfortably to them before he glance at Minato. "What about you, senpai? What do you think of them?" asked Ryuji.

"…Well, sorry to say this but I agreed with Akira-kun, Ann-san and Morgana that the logo and the words you draw and pasted on those cards are lacking and childish, Ryuji-kun." said Minato slightly apologetically to Ryuji (who scowled at him now) before he fell silent and they overheard what the other students are talking about.

"Did Kamoshida-sensei do something wrong…?" asked a shy female student.

"Does this mean the rumors are true!?" said another female student excitedly.

"Wait a sec… Is someone gonna take something from Kamoshida-sensei…?" asked a disheveled male student.

"What's with this weird logo? And who're these "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" people…?" asked another male student.

"…Well, it certainly got everyone excited." said Akira as he smiled a little approvingly at Ryuji (who tapped his feet and fidgeted a little at the students comments) before they saw Kamoshida approaching the bulletin boards with an angry look on his face.

" _And here comes the man of the hour._ " thought Minato to himself with a smirk on his face.

" _Totally, Minato_." said Pharos in agreement with Minato.

"Who's responsible for this…!?" demanded Kamoshida as he glared at the students standing near the bulletin boards.

"…Look at that. A predictable reaction for someone who knows what we meant by distorted desires." said Morgana delightfully to them.

"I think it's hittin' him pretty hard." said Ryuji as he smiled quite widely to them.

"Sure looks like it, Sakamoto-kun." said Akira as he nodded to Ryuji.

"Did you do this!? Or was it you!?" yell Kamoshida loudly and angrily to the students (which frighten them before they quickly run away in fear from Kamoshida) before he noticed them standing nearby and he turned and approach them. "…Was it you three!?" demanded Kamoshida as he glared at Akira, Ryuji and Minato.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Kamoshida-sensei? You seriously think that we're the ones who did it? We just got here, isn't that right, Sakamoto-kun, Takamaki-san and Arisato-senpai?" said Akira innocently to Kamoshida as he glance in feign confusion at Ryuji, Ann and Minato (who nodded in unison to him).

"…Hmph. So you all are playing dumb?" said Kamoshida threateningly to them.

"Who knows?" said Akira as he shrugged his shoulders at him.

"Now you're resorting to accusing students instead of harassing them like before, Kamoshida? Do you get a serious hard-on in doing such things to these students?" said Kanakubo-sensei coldly to Kamoshida after he showed up and stand near Akira, Minato, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana.

"This is none of your damn business so back off or else…" growled Kamoshida as he glared at Kanakubo-sensei.

"Or else what, hm? You gonna accused and threaten me like you did earlier to these students? You can't because once you do so, you'll be facing the full wrath of the Fujiwara clan, the clan that I'm a close member of and which your status and image of an Olympic medalist is nothing to them. Normally I don't like using the Fujiwara clan to get someone to back off but this time I will for the sake of these students. Are you ready for that, Kamoshida?" said Kanakubo-sensei very coldly and firmly to Kamoshida.

"… Tch, fine. You've made your damn point again, Kanakubo." said Kamoshida in anger and resignation at Kanakubo-sensei before they suddenly felt and saw the atmosphere around started to fizzed up, turned purple then black then they saw Kamoshida change to the shadow version of himself.

"Come… Steal it, if you all can!" said shadow Kamoshida in a goading tone of voice to them before the atmosphere change back to normal and Kamoshida turned and stomped away from them.

" _Asshole_." thought Kanakubo-sensei in anger at Kamoshida.

"Damn, the way you verbally attack him until he back down is effin' awesome, teach!" said Ryuji with an impressed look on his face at Kanakubo-sensei.

"Thank you and mind your language next time, alright, Sakamoto-kun?" said Kanakubo-sensei sternly at Ryuji (who nodded to him).

"Did you guys saw that?" said Minato to them. "Yeah, we all did, Arisato-senpai." said Akira as he nodded to Minato.

"Judging from Kamoshida's response… I'm sure we had an effect on his Palace now!" said Morgana.

"Does that mean the Treasure's appeared!? We'll be able to get it today, right?" asked Ann.

"It's not just "today". It's ONLY today. The impact of seeing a calling card doesn't last long, and it cannot be repeated. This will be our one chance to steal the Treasure." replied Morgana.

"One day's more than enough for us!" said Ryuji excitedly to Morgana.

"Well then, let's get to it once school's end for the day, everyone!" said Akira determinedly to Ryuji, Ann, Morgana and Minato before they turned and head to their classrooms and waited for school to end.

XXXX

**A few hours later, in front of Kamoshida's Palace…**

When Joker activated the app and entered the castle of Kamoshida with Skull, Panther, Mona, Seraph and Paladin, they instantly saw and felt the air around them pulsed strongly and angrily with red energy. They then teleport straight into the safe room outside the throne room, leave the safe room, went through the opened doors into the throne room and they saw with surprise and confused looks on their faces that Kamoshida's shadow and his knight shadows weren't in the room.

"What the hell's goin' on here? The door's just sittin' open, and there aren't any soldiers around…" said Skull as he look around the room suspiciously.

"Yeah, it's weird." said Paladin as he look around the room suspiciously as well.

"This place is probably undermanned now that they all got assigned elsewhere." explained Mona to Skull. "Either way, we win as long as we steal the Treasure! Let's get going!" added Mona firmly to them.

Joker, Skull, Panther, Mona, Seraph and Paladin nodded in unison to Mona before they run across the throne room, run up the stairs toward the treasure room and Joker opened it and they went into the room and saw that the floating transparent cloudy thing had change into a large shining red and golden crown.

"Aww yeeeeaaaaaaaah! The Treasure has materialized!" cheered Mona as he jumped quite exuberantly.

"Man, it's huge!" said Skull as he glance at the crown with an incredulous look on his face.

"No kidding. So his treasure is a huge crown, huh?" said Seraph as he nodded in agreement to Skull without looking away from the crown. "But how are we going to steal such a huge crown out of here?" added Seraph.

"We'll think of something, Seraph." said Joker.

"What do you all think!? It's just as I said! Now we can steal it! Ahh… this shine brings tears to my eyes…" purred Mona happily and smugly to them.

"… It kinda pisses me off. Why's it so pretty…? Isn't this Kamoshida's desires?" said Panther as she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the huge crown.

"T-Treasure…" purred Mona as he glance dreamily at the crown (which make Joker, Skull, Panther, Seraph and Paladin glance at Mona with confused looks on their faces).

"Uh, guys. The cat's actin' awfully excited…" said Skull as he scratch the back of his head.

"What's wrong? Is something…?" asked Panther concernly to Mona before she got cut off when Mona suddenly jumped onto the crown and began rubbing himself against the crown (which surprises all of them when they saw what Mona just did in front of them).

"Meeeeeooooow! Mrrrrroooooow!" purred Mona in ecstasy while oblivious to them.

"What the hell's wrong with him?" said Seraph.

"We don't know what's wrong with him, Seraph. And Mona, that's not catnip so stop being excited and rubbed yourself against it." said Joker in a deadpan tone of voice to Mona.

"…Meow, meow! Mewwwww!" mewled Mona even more as he briefly glance at Joker and ignored his words.

"All right, you heard him so that's enough, you stupid cat!" snapped Skull in slight frustration at Mona, which succeeded in snapping him out of his ecstasy mood before he jumped down from the crown and lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Oh, um, yeah… Forgive me for displaying such an insolent sight in front of a lady…" said Mona apologetically to Panther.

"You were completely out of character too. What was that about?" asked Panther.

"I couldn't stop it either… To think I'd be drawn to human desires this much…" said Mona as he shake his head before he perked up. "Doesn't that prove that I'm human!?" added Mona quite happily to them.

"How should we know!?" said Skull in a disbelief tone of voice to Mona.

"It's hard to say, Mona." said Seraph as he shake his head a little.

"A-Anyway, you guys need to carry it!" said Mona as he raised and pointed his paw at the crown.

"All you do is bark orders…" said Skull before he grinned widely. "Still, that was easier than I thought! I thought for sure that there'd be some insane trap or something."

"Don't jinx it, Skull." said Joker as he scowled at Skull.

"His Palace will disappear if we take this back, right? And Kamoshida will change to…" said Panther as she and Skull approach the crown.

"… That should be the case." said Mona as Joker, Seraph and Paladin approach the crown too.

"Good. Now's our chance then." said Skull as he raised and rolled his arms a little before he, Panther, Joker, Seraph and Paladin grabbed hold of the edge of the crown.

"It's heavy…!" said Panther as she winced a little due to the heavy weight of the crown.

"We know, Panther. But we gotta keep moving." said Joker as he winced a little as well.

"Yeah, just try to bear with it, Panther." said Paladin.

"To think it'd go so well… I've even found 5 Persona users in the process… My judgement was correct. I made the right choice in making a deal with you! Nyahaha!" said Mona as he glance and jumped enthusiastically to Joker (who felt his bond with Mona go up to level two).

" _Looks like his bond with Mona got a bit closer, which means his Magician Arcana went up one level._ " thought Seraph as he felt Joker's bond with Mona go up to level two.

As Joker, Skull, Panther, Seraph and Paladin slowly make their way out of the treasure room and back into the throne room while carrying the crown and with Mona following closely to them, they suddenly heard not-Ann's voice cheering out to someone.

"Go, go! Let's go! Ka-mo-shida!" cheered not-Ann to shadow Kamoshida before shadow Kamoshida jumped and spiked two volleyballs toward the crown that they're carrying and Seraph quickly let go of the crown, pull out and raised his sword to knock the first volleyball away from them while the other volleyball struck and knock the crown out of their hands and it roll away from them.

"Uwa-!" yelped Skull in surprise.

After Shadow Kamoshida knock the crown out of their hands, he then sailed majestically over their heads, landed smoothly on his feet in front of his throne before he stood up and hold out his hand toward his rolling crown. The crown then shrunk and appear in his outstretched hand as not-Ann run up and hugged him enthusiastically before she glance and smirked at Joker, Skull, Panther, Mona, Seraph and Paladin.

"I won't let anyone take this!" said shadow Kamoshida as he glared at them while tossing the crown up and down in his hand. "This proves that I'm the king of this castle-it is the core of this world!"

"That rat bastard… That's how he sees me, isn't it!?" snarled Panther as she glared darkly at shadow Kamoshida and her copy.

"Yeah, you're right about that, Panther. And what's worse, you're not the only one that he sees as shameless bikini girls." said Joker sadly to Panther before he glared at shadow Kamoshida.

"Yo, pervert. Were you waitin' to ambush us?" greeted Skull in a taunting tone of voice to shadow Kamoshida.

"Yeah, right. I just made it easier to find you all. I'll dispose of you all myself. Right here, right now." said shadow Kamoshida flippantly to them.

"That's our line, you abusive and sexually-harassin' D-bag!" retorted Skull angrily at shadow Kamoshida.

"What a selfish misunderstanding…" said shadow Kamoshida as he shake his head at Skull.

"How is it a misunderstanding!? You were doing things that you kept in secret from others!" snapped Panther.

"The people around me were the ones who kept it secret." corrected shadow Kamoshida as he smirked at Panther. "Adults who want to share in my accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners… They willingly protect me so that we all may profit from it."

"Profit!?" said Skull with a shock look on his face.

"Yeah right, you lying bastard. More like you blackmail, threaten, hurt and abused them so that they'll help and protect you because they feared you." snapped Seraph angrily at shadow Kamoshida.

"So what!? There are too many imbeciles who don't understand that! Including naïve delinquents like you all, that stupid girl who tried to kill herself and finally, the thorn in my ass teacher!" sneered shadow Kamoshida.

"How dare you say such things about Suzui-san and the other students!" snapped Paladin as he glared at shadow Kamoshida.

"True, she's a total idiot… letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide…" said Panther as she lowered her head to look sadly down on the floor while clenching her hands into fists. "And I'm even more of a dumbass for not realizing that…! But no matter what kind of fool someone might be… They don't need your permission to live their lives!" added Panther firmly to shadow Kamoshida.

"Well-spoken, Panther." said Seraph proudly at Panther.

"Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant! There's no wrong in using my gifts for my gain! I'm a cut above all other humans!" said shadow Kamoshida as he scowled darkly at them.

"Above…? You mean beneath. You're a goddamn demon obsessed with your sick desires!" said Panther angrily at shadow Kamoshida (which make him started chuckling darkly while a bright red aura appear and began enveloping him and (fake Ann).

"That's right, I'm not like you all…" said shadow Kamoshida as he spread his arms out before he grabbed and pull fake-Ann close to him. "I'm a demon who rules this world!" added shadow Kamoshida gleefully to them before the red aura around him and fake Ann turned black, covered them up and merged them together before shadow Kamoshida began growing larger while large drops of slimy saliva oozes out of his gaping mouth.

"Wh-What the hell…!?" sputtered Skull as he and the others stared in shock and disgust at shadow Kamoshida's transformation (which turns out to be a large pink-skinned, four-arms, long purple tongue, yellow-eyed, horned demon wearing the crown on his head, holding a knife, fork, whip and a cup of red wine with not-Ann swimming motionlessly inside in his hands while a golden trophy stand in front of him with dozens of lower female body parts sticking out of it).

"Dammit, just when you thought he couldn't get even more dirty and disgusting…." said Seraph with a disgusted look on his face at shadow Kamoshida's new form.

"True and this dirty and disgusting new form of his suits him a lot, Seraph." said Paladin.

"Hahaha! Gyahaha! I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want!" laughed shadow Kamoshida quite distortedly to them.

"No, you're wrong, you goddamn lust-obsessed demon. We'll take you down and finish this." said Joker angrily and determinedly to Kamoshida (who roared in anger at him).

"You goddamn, no good, shitty brats! Haven't you all being taught not to point at people!? Huh!?" yell shadow Kamoshida angrily at them.

"Look, the Treasure's over there!" said Mona as he raised and pointed his paw at the crown on shadow Kamoshida's head. "We should catch him off guard and steal it! Let's attack him and wait for that opportunity!"

"Right, Mona! Come, Arsene, Eiha!" yell Joker.

"Zorro, Garu!" yell Mona.

"Orpheus, Bash!" yell Seraph.

"Captain Kidd, Zio!" yell Skull.

"Carmen, Agi!" yell Panther.

"Roland, Magna!" yell Paladin.

After they summoned forth their personas and uses their different magic skills to attack and struck shadow Kamoshida, shadow Kamoshida snarled and retaliate by swinging his knife swiftly at them and managed to dealt light cuts on their stomachs before they could dodged away. They groaned a little from the injuries before Mona and Panther casts Dia on their stomach wounds and healed them. Both Joker and Skull then charge forward and uses their weapons and guns to attack and open fire at shadow Kamoshida while Mona, Panther and Seraph stay back and uses Garu, Agi and Bash skills on him.

"Nnnnngh! I need healin'!" said shadow Kamoshida in a pained tone of voice to himself before he uses his fork to stabbed one of the lower female body part inside the trophy, bring it to his mouth and he ate and swallow it and caused his wounds to healed up. "That's better! Now come at me, you pieces of shit! I ain't letting' you sleep tonight!" said shadow Kamoshida smugly to them.

"He healed himself…? Is it because he ate those inside there…?" said Mona as he glance incredulously at the trophy in front of him.

"In that case, we should attack and get rid of that trophy first before we attack Kamoshida." said Joker coolly to his teammates (who nodded to him) before they run toward the trophy and began attacking it.

"Hey!" gasped shadow Kamoshida before he raised and swung his fork and knife at them to prevent them from attacking the trophy and they quickly dodged away or jumped backward from his fork and knife. "You don't know what this is worth, so stop touching it! Don't do it anymore, got it? I've warned you!" yell shadow Kamoshida angrily at them.

"When someone tells us not to do something, it makes us want to do it even more!" said Mona with a smirk on his face.

"In that case, Mona, Panther, Paladin, you three distract him while Seraph, Skull and I destroy that trophy!" Joker ordered them as he smirk at shadow Kamoshida.

Skull, Mona, Panther, Paladin and Seraph nodded to him and Mona, Panther and Paladin distracted shadow Kamoshida by attacking him with their weapons and dodging his attacks while Joker, Skull and Seraph run toward the trophy and attack it relentlessly with their personas until they managed to destroy it and it dissipated away into black mists.

"…Ack! No way… This was from when I won the national…" yell shadow Kamoshida as he flinch and slumped down in a dejected manner.

"All right! Well done, Joker, Skull and Seraph!" said Mona proudly to them before they surrounded shadow Kamoshida, raised and pointed their guns at him.

"You think that you can get away with doing such a thing? Do you realize who I am!?… I am Kamoshida! Don't you get it!?" yell shadow Kamoshida as he glared at them.

"So what?" said Joker mockingly to shadow Kamoshida.

"Huh? Like I keep saying! I am Kamoshida! I'm the king!" argued shadow Kamoshida.

"Yeah, right. You're no king, Kamoshida. You're just a sickening and disgusting man." said Seraph in disgust at shadow Kamoshida.

"You look down on everyone… but you're seriously lame right now." said Skull.

"We came all this way to steal that! Will you just give it up and hand it over?" said Panther firmly to shadow Kamoshida.

"Silence! I won't let the likes of you have this!" growled shadow Kamoshida.

"You still have the energy to say things like that!? Then we're going to up our game as well!" said Mona sternly to shadow Kamoshida before he, Joker, Skull, Panther, Paladin and Seraph jumped and uses the all-out attack on shadow Kamoshida, attacking him relentlessly from all sides, making him yell out in pain from their attacks and managed to partially injured him.

"I'm the king…! If I'm not, then who is!?" said shadow Kamoshida to himself.

"Someone who's much better at being king than you. Kamoshida." said Seraph coldly to shadow Kamoshida.

"Looks like I gotta bring out the big guns! Slaves! Bring over you-know-what!" ordered shadow Kamoshida to the chained up helmet slaves that's with him before the chains around their necks break apart and the helmet slaves quickly run away. "Time for my killshot from when I was active and rockin' it! Killshot… as in I'll make the kill! What's the holdup? Where's my ball!?" demanded shadow Kamoshida to the slaves before Joker and his teammates saw fake Mishima running toward and stopped in front of shadow Kamoshida with a volleyball in his hands.

"I-I'm so sorry, King Kamoshida! I-I have it right here!" stammer fake Mishima nervously to shadow Kamoshida.

"Too slow, Mishima! Worthless chump!" sneered shadow Kamoshida at fake Mishima.

"Huh!? Mishima!?" said Skull with a surprise look on his face at fake Mishima.

"Why is he here?" said Paladin, shock as well.

"Good, Mishima-now pass it to me! Don't tell me you can't even do something as simple as that!" said shadow Kamoshida to Mishima, who raised and threw the volleyball toward shadow Kamoshida, who jumped and smacked the volleyball toward Akira and his teammates, caused them to yell out in pain from it before both Mona and Panther quickly casts Dia on them to healed their bruise wounds

"I knew it… I can't go all-out with Mishima proving the backup. Hey, shit-for-brains! Get off my court!" snapped shadow Kamoshida in anger and disgust at fake Mishima.

"I-I'm sorry, King Kamoshida!" said fake Mishima as he run away.

"Next slave, get out here!" said shadow Kamoshida before a fake Shiho wearing a fluffy white bikini with white rabbit ears on her head, white heels and holding another volleyball in her hands run toward and stopped in front of shadow Kamoshida.

" _What the, Suzui-san? Why and how did she get here?_ " thought Seraph in anger and disgust with Kamoshida.

"King Kamoshida, I've brought you your ball, just like you asked." said fake Shiho sweetly to shadow Kamoshida while ignoring Seraph.

"Now there's a good girl, Suzui. Yeah, all women should obey my orders like this-ain't that right, sweetheart?" said shadow Kamoshida in a perverted tone of voice at fake Shiho before he glance and smirked at both Joker and Jester.

"We won't get anywhere with brute force… What do we do, Joker?" asked Mona as he glance at Joker.

"Let's go for the crown." replied Joker.

"Great idea, Joker." said Seraph as he nodded to Joker.

"I see… In that case, time for Plan B! Look over at that terrace!" said Mona as he pointed his paw at the terrace on shadow Kamoshida's left. "While the others are drawing Kamoshida's attention, have someone go there! Let's steal the Treasure without him noticing!" added Mona to Joker.

"Right. Seraph, go up there and get the Treasure!" Joker ordered Seraph.

"Understood, Joker!" said Seraph as he nodded to Joker before he turned and moved away from the others toward a nearby pillar while Joker, Skull, Mona, Panther and Paladin)distracted shadow Kamoshida from noticing Seraph's absence by summoning forth their personas and uses Eiha, Zio, Garu, Magna and Tarunda skills on him.

Shadow Kamoshida retaliate by swinging his fork and knife at them (which they dodged away) before he raised his wine glass to drank the red liquid and violated fake Ann with his tongue (to boost up his attack and defense) before he spit her back into the glass.

Panther is furious when she saw the way shadow Kamoshida violated the fake copy of her with his tongue and she raised her gun to fired a barrage of bullets at the wine glass that shadow Kamoshida is holding until the glass shatter to pieces, caused the red liquid and not-Ann to fall to the floor before Panther summoned forth Carmen, uses Agi skill to burned not-Ann into black mists, which make shadow Kamoshida glared at her as one of his hands rushed forward to grab hold of her but she quickly move away from his hand before he could grab her.

"Now, listen up, you delinquents! This school exists because I'm around. You're the only ones who don't respect me, you know!" said shadow Kamoshida as he glared at them. "You're misunderstanding it all! I haven't sexually harassed anyone! They came on to me because they wanted to get on my good side!"

"Hmph, yeah right! Every word you're saying to us about them coming up to you to get on your good side and the school exist because of you now is nothing but lies!" scoffed Joker as he switch persona, summoned forth Silky and uses Garu skill on him (which make shadow Kamoshida let out a groan of pain before he finally noticed that one of Joker's teammates is gone).

"Is there one less of you? I knew it! One of your band of thieves is missing! Where'd he go off to!?" demanded shadow Kamoshida as he started to look around for Seraph while not lessening his attacks on Joker, Skull, Panther, Paladin and Mona.

"Heh, took you long enough. But it's a little too late for you now. Now, Seraph!" said Joker mockingly to shadow Kamoshida before he yell out to Seraph, giving him the signal to take the crown from shadow Kamoshida.

"Got it, Joker! Here I come!" said Seraph to Joker before he jumped from the platform toward the crown on shadow Kamoshida's head, struck and knock the crown down from his head with his weapon before he landed safely with Joker and the others while the crown rolled away from them and shadow Kamoshida (who dropped his fork and knife as his four arms flailed desperately around for his missing crown).

"Nooo! My… My precious…!" yell shadow Kamoshida in despair before he slumped down in yet another dejected manner.

"Good, Kamoshida's shaken up!" said Mona with a wide grin on his face.

"I think we can do this…!" said Panther with a hopeful smile on her face as she raised and pointed her gun at shadow Kamoshida.

"Let's finish this, everyone!" said Joker to his teammates before they jumped and uses all-out attack on him for the second time, attacking him relentlessly from all sides before they landed on the floor, summoned forth their personas and uses Eiha, Zio, Bash, Garu, Agi, Magna skills on him until they defeated him.

Shadow Kamoshida let out a final yell of pain as black mists started to appear out of his body before he fell face-down on the floor and move no more (before Joker received 8000 yen from him and he and his teammates level up some more and learn new skills).


	28. Chapter 28

**Inside Kamoshida's Palace…**

After Joker, Skull, Panther, Mona, Seraph and Paladin defeated shadow Kamoshida and he slowly shrunk from his large form back to his normal form while his large crown also shrunk back to normal, Skull then make his way toward the crown but before he could take it, shadow Kamoshida suddenly got up, rushed forward and grab hold of his crown before he turned and run away from them toward the open balcony.

"Ah!" said Skull, surprised.

"Why you! Stop running!" snapped Joker as he and his teammates run after shadow Kamoshida and cornered him on the balcony.

"Nngh…" gulped shadow Kamoshida as he frantically look and walked around the balcony for any other way to escape from Joker and his teammates and found none.

"What's wrong? Not running away? Why don't you run…? Aren't you a great athlete?" said Panther mockingly to shadow Kamoshida.

"Not like you can since we got you cornered like a scared animal, you sorry excuse of a PE teacher." said Paladin coldly at shadow Kamoshida.

"It's always been like this… all those goddamn hyenas forcing their expectations on me…!" said shadow Kamoshida as he turned around and glared at them. "I'm doing this all for them! What's wrong about demanding a reward for that!?"

"Now you're making excuses…? We'll do something about that distorted heart of yours." scoffed Skull as he shake his head in mock-pity at shadow Kamoshida.

"That's right. No more excuses and running for a bastard like you." said Seraph in a cold and agreeing tone of voice to Skull.

"Hrrgh…" grunted shadow Kamoshida in frustration.

"Scared? Right now, you're seeing the same view that Shiho did." said Panther as she briefly flipped her blonde hair before she take a few steps closer to shadow Kamoshida. "I'm sure she was scared too… except she had no choice but to jump… What will you do? Will you jump?… Or would you rather died here?" said Panther coldly to shadow Kamoshida as she stop walking, take off her mask, summoned forth Carmen before Carmen raised her hands to conjure 2 balls of flames on it (which make shadow Kamoshida took a step back in fear as he hold his crown close to him).

"Do you want to finish him off? It's your call, Panther." said Mona as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, please wait! I beg you… just forgive meeee!" pleaded shadow Kamoshida.

"Shut up. I bet everyone told you the same. But you… you took everything from them!" snapped Panther as she glared hatefully at shadow Kamoshida before Carmen threw a fireball at shadow Kamoshida, who scream and covered himself from the incoming fireball but the fireball swerved at the last minute and struck the awning wall next to him, charring and turning it black while shadow Kamoshida briefly and fearfully glance at the charred wall before he glance at them and quickly fell to his knees on the floor.

"I accept defeat… You want this? Take it." said shadow Kamoshida as he bowed in fear and defeat to them before he raised and threw the crown toward Joker, who reached out and caught it securely in his hands. "Go ahead and finish me off… You do that… and my real self will go down too…" added shadow Kamoshida to them (which make both Skull and Paladin scratch their heads uncomfortably while Joker, Mona and Seraph glance in cold silence at him). "You have that right since you've won…"

Panther let out a sharp exhale, clench her right hand into a fist as she kept on glaring hatefully at shadow Kamoshida before she raised her left hand, silently ordering Carmen to threw the other fireball in her hand toward shadow Kamoshida (which make both Joker and Skull yell out in surprise to her) but like the previous fireball, it swerve and struck the floor next to shadow Kamoshida, leaving it charred as well before shadow Kamoshida slowly glance up at Panther with a surprise look on his face.

"If his mind shuts down, he can't admit his crimes." said Panther resolutely as her mask appear back on her face.

"You're kind, Lady Ann…" said Mona as he scratch his cheek a little.

" _I don't think so, Mona._ " thought Seraph silently in his mind.

"I've lost." said shadow Kamoshida in a despair tone of voice as he look down while tears glisten and fell from his eyes. "You're through when you lose… What am I- What am I supposed to do now…?" asked shadow Kamoshida hesitantly to them.

"Atone for each of your sins and apologize to the victims of your abuse." replied Joker coldly to shadow Kamoshida.

"All right… I will leave now and return to my real self…" said shadow Kamoshida as he slowly look up at them with a small, sad smile on his face while his body started to glow brightly. "I'll make certain that I-" added shadow Kamoshida before he vanished from their sights.

Soon after shadow Kamoshida vanished from their sights, Joker and his teammates suddenly felt and saw with shock looks on their faces as the entire castle around them began to rumble quite violently.

"Hey, just so you all know, we don't have time to waste. This place is about to collapse!" said Mona coolly to them.

"Wait, what!? Why didn't you tell us earlier!?" demanded Skull as he glared at Mona.

"I'm telling you all now." said Mona as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's run for it, everyone! Hurry!" yell Joker before he and his teammates turned and run like bats out of hell down the hallways of the crumbling castle while avoiding the ceiling and wall debris that fell around them.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" yell Panther as she look behind her at the fallen debris of the ceiling and wall before she look forward, felt something landed onto her head and when she look up to see what is it, she saw that it's Mona (who's now in cat form). "Hey, what the!?" said Panther in surprise to Mona before Mona jumped from her head onto Paladin, Skull and Seraph's heads until he landed on Joker's shoulder.

"No fair, you jerk!" complained Skull as he glared at Mona standing on Joker's shoulder.

"Mrooow!" said Mona as he look back at them with an innocent yet smug look on his face. Both Skull and Panther kept on scowling at Mona as they kept on running down the hallway before Skull winced in pain and glance down at his right leg before he suddenly fell to the floor with a yelp (which make Joker, Mona, Panther, Paladin and Seraph stopped and glance at him with worry looks on their faces).

"Sakamoto-kun!" said Paladin worriedly to him.

"Ryuji! Ryuji-kun!" said both Panther and Seraph worriedly to him as well.

"Heh… It's been a while, so I just tripped, is all!" said Skull reassuringly to them.

"Come on, let me help you up, Sakamoto-kun!" said Paladin as he approach, grab hold of Skull's arm and helped lifted him up from the floor before they quickly resumed running down the hallway until they saw the exit in front of them, run through it and got transported out of Kamoshida's Palace.

XXXX

**Inside the alleyway opposite the school…**

Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Kanakubo-sensei and Minato gasped, panted and leaned their bodies against the wall in exhaustion while Morgana sits nearby and glance silently up at them after they got out of Kamoshida's Palace.

"That sucked…" said Ann as she winced a little while taking several deep breaths.

"No kidding, Takamaki-san. But at least we're all out of that place… Are you guys alright?" asked Minato as he glance concernly at them.

"Yeah." said Kanakubo-sensei as he nodded at Minato.

"Yeah, we're all fine and alive but exhausted, Arisato-senpai." replied Akira in a tired and reassuring tone of voice to Minato while Ryuji pull out his phone to check the app before a surprise look appear on his face.

"Hey, guys! Look at the nav!" said Ryuji to them before they pull out their phones to look and saw that they can't go to Kamoshida's Palace anymore.

" _The destination has been deleted._ " said the robotic female voice from the Metaverse Navigator.

"…It's true. We can't go there anymore." said Ann.

"Good riddance." said Kanakubo-sensei with a smug then relief look on his face.

"What about the Treasure!?" said Morgana as he glance anxiously at Akira, who take out a golden medal from inside his blazer pocket and show it to them.

"What the…?" said Ryuji as he glance in confusion at the medal in Akira's hand.

"…A medal? Wait, where'd the crown go?" asked Ann.

"What's goin' on…?" asked Ryuji as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"It means, that was the source of Kamoshida's desires. To him, this medal is worth as much as that crown we saw in the Palace." explained Morgana in a pensive tone of voice to them.

"I see. An Olympic medal, huh?" said Minato.

"So that perv kept clingin' to his past glory and couldn't let it go…" said Ryuji as he glance at the medal with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Looks like it, Sakamoto-kun." said Kanakubo-sensei.

"But… this means that Kamoshida's heart might have change, right?" said Ann hesitantly to them.

"…Probably." said Morgana.

"How are you so sure about it!" said Ryuji worriedly at Morgana.

"This is the first successful example for me too." said Morgana weakly to Ryuji. "However, there's no doubt that this has affected Kamoshida's personality quite a lot. The entire Palace disappeared, after all."

"Ugh, I feel all antsy! Ain't there a way to check now?" said Ryuji frustratedly to them.

"Just be patient, Ryuji-kun. We'll know soon enough if what we did affected Kamoshida's heart or not." said Akira calmly to Ryuji.

"He's right, you two." said Minato in agreement with Akira.

"Right…" said Ann gloomily to them.

"Come on, why the gloomy faces? Be happy or at least by calm like Akira, Minato and Kanakubo-sensei!" said Morgana as he scowled at both Ryuji and Ann for being anxious and gloomy. "We completed this with great success, you know."

"We just don't know if everything's OK yet…" said Ryuji.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be fine. Remember how Kamoshida's shadow said that he's returning to his self in reality?" Morgana reminded them. "Suguru Kamoshida was a scum. Still… he did seem to regain his conscience somewhat at the end."

"It would seemed so, Morgana." said Akira as he nodded to Morgana.

"There are definitely those who have been saved thanks to what you all have done." said Morgana as he smiled at them.

"Yeah…" said Ann in agreement to Morgana.

"Anyways, I guess we gotta wait." said Ryuji as he crossed his arms again. "It all boils down to what's gonna happen to Kamoshida… or if we're getting expelled for real…"

"Yeah. For now, let's all go home and be patient about it." said Akira.

"…Right. C'mon, let's go home." said Ryuji before he, Akira (who picked Morgana up and put him in his bag), Ann and Minato walked out of the alleyway and toward the subway station to take the train home while Kanakubo-sensei watched them leave and as he's about to head into Shujin to get his things and went home, his phone in his left pants pocket started ringing and he quickly take his phone out before an annoy look appear on his face when he see the caller ID on his phone before he answer it.

"Again? Why can't you and the others just leave me alone already?" said Kanakubo-sensei in an annoy tone of voice to the person on the other end of the phone line.

" _Hello, Kyosuke. Won't you reconsider and change your mind about spending more time with us and just let the past go…_ " said a male voice sadly to Kanakubo-sensei.

"No. My answer won't change and it stays the same. I REFUSED to reconsider about spending more time with you and the others. Goodbye." said Kanakubo-sensei firmly to the man before he hung up, put his phone back into his pocket and take some deep breaths to calm himself down before he went into Shujin.

XXXX

**A few minutes later, in Niijima's apartment home…**

"Welcome back, Minato-kun. Hm, why are you smiling about? Did something good happen to you today in Shujin?" asked Makoto in confusion to Minato when she saw him smiling.

" _Yep. You're correct that something good did happen to Minato and his new friends and teacher today, miss pretty council president._ " said Pharos happily to Makoto in Minato's mind.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that, Makoto-san. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going to my room because I'm feeling tired." replied Minato as he gave a small tired nod to Makoto.

"I see. Good night then, Minato-kun." said Makoto as she look away from him.

"Good night, Makoto-san." said Minato as he walked past her toward his room, went in and after he put his bag down on the desk then sat on his bed, he heard his phone started ringing and when he take it out to see the caller ID, he saw that it's Goro with a happy smile on his face and he answer it.

"Hello, Gocchan. What is it?" said Minato.

" _Hello, Minato-san. I wanted to ask you on whether you're free to come to Kichijoji tomorrow because I wanted to… spend time with you after I do my interview with "Good Morning Japan" crew._ " asked Goro hesitantly and slightly hopefully to Minato.

" _Aw, isn't that cute and sweet of Gocchan wanting to spend time with you tomorrow, Minato?_ " said Pharos teasingly at Minato (who rolled his eyes at Pharos) about Goro wanting to spend time with him.

"Is that so, Gocchan? I think I've some free time so I'll be able to spend some time with you in Kichijoji tomorrow." replied Minato happily to Goro.

" _Really? I'm glad to hear that and I'll see you tomorrow in Promenade street in Kichijoji and I'll text you where Kichijoji is just in case, Minato-san._ " said Goro happily to Minato.

"Yeah, thanks and see you tomorrow then, Gocchan. Bye." said Minato.

" _Bye, Minato-san._ " said Goro before both he and Minato dismiss the calls to each other.

After Minato's done talking to Goro, he turned off and put his phone on the desk next to his bag, leave his room to take a quick bath, dry himself up then change into his pajamas before he went back to his room and fell asleep.


End file.
